


Family Pieces

by End_Transmission



Series: Family's What You Make It [4]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family Feels, Holidays, M/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:26:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 69,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/End_Transmission/pseuds/End_Transmission
Summary: A collection of one-shots centered around Michael Afton, Fritz Smith, Vanessa Afton, and the animatronic gang - based on the 'Family's What You Make It' series. Includes Canon, AU's, and the occasional dip outside of the series entirely. Also contains spoilers for the other three works. Began holiday themed but now it's just all over the place.
Relationships: Elizabeth Afton & Michael Afton, Michael Afton & Animatronics, Michael Afton & Bite victim, Michael Afton & Fritz Smith, Michael Afton & Henry Emily, Michael Afton & William Afton | Dave Miller, No animatronic romantic relationships, Possible character relationships to be added, Vanny | Vanessa | Reluctant Follower & Jeremy Fitzgerald, Vanny | Vanessa | Reluctant Follower/Luis Cabrera
Series: Family's What You Make It [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518800
Comments: 141
Kudos: 234





	1. Prompt 1: Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and the animatronics prepare for their first holiday season together. It's a time of fun and joy - but for Mike, it's also a time of painful memories. Thankfully, he has his family to help him work through the worst of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, and happy holidays! I've decided to embark on a little prompt-based writing project for the season. I'll be using a random mix of prompts from a variety of holiday/December prompt lists. I can't promise a prompt every day, but I hope to do a pretty good collection of them! They will mostly be based on my current AU, the series that this work is part of "Family's What You Make It." However, I have a few ideas for ficlets that will be based on other characters outside of this AU - for example, Vanny! 
> 
> As a general note - if you have prompt ideas you'd like to pitch to me, feel free to do so! You can do so in the comments, or by contacting me at any of the links I'll provide in the end notes. I'm more than open to prompts for just about anything, based on this AU or not. For now, enjoy prompt number 1: Family. Thanks as always for your love and support, and I really hope you enjoy these!

“Careful, Spring!” Mike exclaimed, lunging over to catch the fragile star before it hit the ground. He laughed lightly as he straightened and handed the star back to the tall animatronic. Spring Bonnie’s ears were angled slightly down, and he seemed sheepish as he took the star back.

“Sorry, Mike,” he said, before he turned back to the tree and reached up, securing the star in its place at the top, this time without fumbling it. 

“Don’t worry about it - the tree’s looking great, buddy.”

“Aye, hold it steady ol’ rabbit,” Foxy said, “I just about got these lights strung up.” He limped around the tree, stringing up the last of the vibrantly colored lights. Mike took a step back, and took in the picture of a night’s hard work. 

It’d been the animatronics’ idea, but he’d helped them work on it wholeheartedly. The Fazbear Family Arcade had been decked out for the holidays - there were colorful lights strung up along the walls and windows, decorative paper cutouts hanging from the ceiling in all sorts of shapes for all sorts of holidays, and of course a christmas tree in the corner that was currently in the process of being fully decorated. Mike had even purchased a collection of ornaments - some by request, and others that he just thought the animatronics would like. 

Overall, it brought a vibrant holiday cheer to the Arcade. Mike, though, was mostly just caught up in the festive cheer of his little mechanical family. Freddy’s music box was twinkling softly as he helped Chica string up some popcorn lights, Bonnie was tapping a single foot as he sprinkled tinsel on the tree, and Foxy and Spring Bonnie were chattering away cheerfully as they finished up the other tree decorations. It was the first time any of them had gotten to celebrate the holidays together - and now that Mike knew how important it was to the animatronics, he would make sure they got to do it every year. 

“It looks fantastic in here, everyone,” Mike called, grabbing their attention, “way to go. And you know what? The kids are gonna love it, too.” 

“You know, I am sure the kids would love to help us decorate, too,” Freddy said, “we can offer them paper, let them make snowflakes or pictures or anything they would like. We could hang them on the ceiling, for all to see.” 

“Oh, that would be a lot of fun!” Spring Bonnie said, “the kids love arts and crafts.”

“Hey, yeah,” Mike agreed, “we can make special days for it, even. You’re right - the kids would love that.” 

“Oh, I know!” Chica said, “we could make cookies, and let the little ones decorate them!” 

“That’d be a blast, too,” Mike said, smiling, “I can arrange that, no problem.” Further cheered, the animatronics went back to what they were doing, chattering among themselves. Mike wandered among them, helping where he could and just chatting where he couldn’t. 

Inexplicably, Mike felt his cheer gradually fading as the evening passed. It was something about the holiday decorations, about the group working together. It rustled up some old memory of his, one of another family that had - once upon a time - been whole. As it dug its way further out of the recesses of his mind, Mike watched the animatronics for a while more. Then, when he couldn’t ignore it any longer, he slipped away and headed for the back office. Once there, he sat in his chair and dug out the wallet in his pocket and, subsequently, the folded up picture tucked inside of it. 

The picture was old - the color had begun to fade, leaving patches of beige-colored hues in various places. The picture itself was wrinkled, the corners bent, consequences of the lackluster treatment it had received at Mike’s hand. It spent most of its time folded up inside of his wallet, and he didn’t often take it out. It was the only picture Mike had of his entire family, and it was one of the few happy memories he had left of them. But he usually kept the picture tucked away, because even if the memory and the picture were happy, he couldn't look at it without feeling a heavy sense of loss. 

Mike’s happy memories of his family were few and far between - and the one captured in the picture was perhaps his happiest. The Afton family had spent the day at a Christmas tree farm, had enjoyed warm donuts and cold cider and each other's company. Mike, being the oldest, had gotten to help his father cut down their chosen tree. He'd felt like a real Big Boy, and even now could remember the way his father had ruffled his hair. Thanked him for his help. 

Mike's hold on the picture tightened further. He grit his teeth, hating the heat pricking at the corners of his eyes. Something rose hot inside of him - sorrow and anger mixed together in a heavy, tight emotion. They were all there. His brother, Jeremy, who was dead and now gone, lost to Mike’s own hands. His sister Elizabeth, gone who-knew-where - Mike never had managed to track her down, and his hope of finding her alive shrunk with each passing year. His mother, who had left the same year the picture was taken - never to be seen again. And of course, his father, who Mike couldn’t help but blame for almost all of it. The man who was a monster in a father’s costume, smiling with his arm around his wife and a hand on his son’s shoulder. 

Mike was standing on his father's left, a whole of twelve years old, and beaming like he’d just won the lottery. Jeremy was standing between his parents, sandwiched up next to their legs, one hand gripping their mother's dress in a white-knuckled grip. Even at a tender five years old, Jeremy had been a nervous, careful child. It had only gotten worse when their mother left. Nothing in the picture suggested the woman would soon do so, though - she seemed happy enough. She was standing next to William, smiling in his hold, and her arms were full of a little girl, swaddled in winter clothes. Elizabeth - hardly a full year old at the time. 

The heat in his chest burst, and Mike’s vision filled with tears. He set the picture on the desk in front of him and gripped his knees tightly, the pressure building in his head as he tried not to audibly sob. Ridiculous - it was absolutely ridiculous. It had been a fun day - a happy day. His animatronics were happy, the restaurant was full of holiday cheer, and there was no reason for him to so much as think about his biological family. There was even less reason to let it affect him so strongly. But the logic was lost on him - the tears began to stream down his cheeks, no matter how hard he tried to stem them. 

“Mike?” 

Mike shot to his feet and away from the desk, turning slightly to look towards the security screen - anywhere but at Spring Bonnie, who’s concerned look Mike could feel burning into him. He resisted the urge to reach up and rub at his eyes, knowing it’d give him away. 

“Hey, Mike, what’s the matter? Why’re you crying?” Spring insisted anyway, moving into the room. 

“Nothing. It’s - nothing. I just need to be alone for a couple of minutes, alright? I’ll be out in a bit.” 

Spring Bonnie didn’t respond right away, and when Mike turned slightly to look, he saw the golden rabbit peering at the picture on the desk. Alarmed, Mike grabbed it up and began to refold it. His hands were shaky as he stuffed the photo back into his wallet, and his wallet back into his pocket. He moved to say something else, but before he could he felt Spring Bonnie move closer, and then he pulled Mike into a tight hug.

“I don’t think you do,” Spring Bonnie said, “I think what you need is to come spend more time with us.”

Mike shook his head against the animatronic’s fur and half-heartedly tried to push away. When Spring Bonnie didn’t let him go, though, he didn’t bother to keep trying. Instead, he let out a hitching, shaky breath and leaned against the animatronic. 

“I’m alright,” he muttered, “really. I just...I was just thinking of the past. I don’t want to worry anyone.”

“Aw Mike, we’re your family, you know. It’s our job to worry about you. You don’t have to hide away when you’re sad - let us help you.” And Mike found himself choking up all over again - still sad, but also touched, reminded once again that despite everything, he wasn’t truly without family any longer. He had the animatronics - and he could always count on them being there for him. Even when no one else in the world was. “C’mon Mike,” Spring Bonnie continued, and Mike didn’t fight it as the rabbit stepped away and laid a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him out of the office and back to the main room. 

The others stopped and looked over when Mike and Spring Bonnie entered. For a long second, they just looked, and Mike squirmed slightly, feeling uncomfortable in their gazes. He knew he wasn’t fooling anyone - his cheeks were still too wet, his eyes were undoubtedly red. He waited for one of them to call him out on it, make him talk about it - he just hoped they wouldn’t.

“Mikey! C’mon and give me an extra hand over here,” Foxy called, finally breaking the silence, “the lights on the window fell off, and they be givin’ me a rough time goin’ back up.”

“Wait! Mike, you’ve gotta help me pick out the best cookie cutter shapes!” Chica said, “I want to make sure they’re perfect for the children!” 

“And you both can wait, because I’m pretty sure I managed to get some tinsel wrapped up in one of my joints. I’m gonna need your little human fingers to get it out, Mike,” Bonnie said from where he was sitting on the edge of the stage, one of his thigh plates propped open. 

“Don’t you lot start fighting now,” Freddy intoned, “the night is still plenty young, and I am sure Mike will be able to help you all before it is over. Therefore, Mike, if you could come and give me a hand pinning this santa hat to my top hat, I would much appreciate it.” 

Mike looked around at each of them, and as he did he felt as Spring Bonnie’s grip on his shoulder tightened slightly. He glanced up at the rabbit, who smiled back at him - and the look was contagious. Even though his eyes still stung, and his chest was still tight, Mike couldn’t help but smile slightly back. He reached up and gave the rabbit’s paw a pat, and then he slipped away. 

“Alright,” Mike said, and if his voice was rough, no one mentioned it, “let me get that tinsel out of you, Bonnie. Everyone else just hang tight - like Freddy said, there’s plenty of night left to go around."

And as it turned out, Spring Bonnie was right. As Mike helped the animatronics out over the course of the next few hours, the tightness in his chest and the sorrow on his shoulders eased. No one asked him about it, or prodded him to say anything, or even so much as brought it up. They simply continued to embrace the cheer of holiday decorating, and as time passed, it reinvigorated Mike, too. By the end of the night, when Mike was tucking himself into the office to get some sleep, the picture in his wallet was once again pushed safely into the back of his mind. 

Mike had lost his biological family, and that would always cause him pain, but it did not mean he had no family at all. He had found his own, had created a family that cared and nourished its members. It was a strange family, far from typical, but it was his - and he knew that they would have his back, no matter what. Just as he would always be there for them, in return. 

As he drifted off, he made himself a promise. He wouldn’t let the holiday melancholy get the better of him again - instead, he’d put his energy into making sure it was the best holiday season the animatronics had ever experienced. No. The best holiday season  _ any  _ of them had ever experienced. 

And despite it all, Mike fell asleep with a smile, dreaming ahead to all the things the holiday season might bring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also have a Tumblr. You can follow me [there](http://pyroweasel.tumblr.com) for fic updates, personal updates, and lots of stupid memes.


	2. Prompt 2: Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa Fitzgerald remembers a simpler, happier time: A day on the slopes with her older brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I said some of these wouldn't be based on the Family universe? Here's the first of those. I've just been dying to do something with Vanny though, I couldn't resist!

First memories are strange. They are almost always fractured versions of themselves, and so often are random, nonsensical moments. They aren't important memories of important events, but rather some vague memory of a moment when one was  _ aware.  _

Vanessa Fitzgerald's first memory is of being in the car. She doesn't remember how old she was, if she was in a car seat or not, or even if she could talk yet. All she remembers is voices around her, the seat belt, and Jeremy. 

She had gotten curious, and had decided to see if she could shove the entire seat buckle into her mouth. She had managed it, but had ended up choking on it, vomit rising to the back of her throat as it gagged her. She'd burst into tears, she hadn't been able to really understand cause and effect, or why she suddenly felt so sick. And then Jeremy had been there - he had taken the buckle away and rubbed her back until she finally calmed back down. 

Vanny always wondered if it was normal for her first memory to be of her sibling, instead of a parent. But, then again, all of her best and favorite memories were of Jeremy. She knew second-hand that they  _ had  _ parents, once upon a time. But she couldn't remember a thing about them. For Vanny, it had always been just her and Jeremy. 

Her favorite memory starts at the top of a snow-covered hill. She has seen that same hill since growing older, and knows now that it wasn't all that tall. But in her memory it was huge - it reached down into a snowy nothingness, a thick fog that hid all the terrors that surely lurked at the bottom. And Jeremy had wanted her to sled down it! 

She had clung to his pant leg, her world cordoned off by the bushy hood she wore on her head and the scarf around the lower part of her face. He had wanted to sled down the giant hill, and had tried to convince Vanny to go with him. But she had never sled down such an incline before, and watching the other kids careen down the hill had spooked her. Especially when one sled had turned sideways and crashed, sending its occupants tumbling out. So what if they'd laughed it off, none the worse for wear? It'd terrified her. 

"Vanny, I promise you it's going to be so much fun," Jeremy had said, crouching down to look at her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Can't you give it a try, just for me? I'll be right there with you the whole way - you know I'd never let anything happen to you."

"'s too big," Vanny had responded, shaking her head, "I don't wanna, Jeremy. I'm too scared!" 

"You? Scared? Vanny, you're the bravest little girl I've ever met. It'll be just like when I pull you along behind the lawnmower. You like that, don't you?" And, well, Jeremy had had a point. Vanny had just nodded in uncertainty, because she  _ had  _ really liked it when he pulled her little sled behind the lawnmower - especially when he’d gone as fast as he could. 

"See? And you'll have just as much fun sledding. Hey. Let's make a deal, okay? I want you to try it once - just one time. And if it still scares you, you don't ever have to do it again. But I think it's important to try anything once, as long as it's something good and fun. So what do you say? Will you go down the hill just once with me?" Jeremy had asked, and then he'd smiled at her, and it was Vanny's favorite Jeremy smile in existence - beaming and tender and just for her. She had never been able to say no to that smile. 

"Promise you'll protect me?" She'd asked, and Jeremy's smile had grown. He'd pulled her to him in the sort of tight, warm hug only made better by their heavy winter clothing. 

"Cross my heart, Vanny. I'll always protect you, no matter what."

"Kay. Then, guess I can try."

"That's my brave sister," Jeremy had said. And then he had sat on the sled, using one foot to keep it from moving, and had pulled her into it. He'd tucked her up close against him, securing her with his legs on either side. Vanny could, even now, remember how warm and safe she had felt, snuggled up against her brother. And then, Jeremy had picked up the reins and pushed them off down the hill. 

The wind had whipped Vanny's hair all around her face. It'd pushed her hood back and the snow had flown up and stung her frigid cheeks. And it had been  _ exhilarating.  _ Vanny's delight had been unstoppable, and she had run Jeremy ragged that day with repeated requests to go again. He'd obliged for a long time, long past many of the other children and their guardians, and had only insisted on calling it a day when Vanny couldn't stop shivering, fingers and toes so numb she couldn't feel them at all. 

The hot chocolate and roaring fire that night had been pretty great, too. Jeremy had bundled her up in a blanket burrito, nothing but her face and hands free, and they had sat together watching Christmas cartoons. Well, there had been an attempt at watching Christmas cartoons. It was hard to hear much when Vanny had spent the night chattering about all the things she liked best about sledding. Jeremy hadn't seemed to mind, though. He'd obliged her, acknowledged her, and promised her that of course they'd go sledding again. Every single winter, if she wanted to. 

Vanny had fallen asleep daydreaming about all the years they would have to sled together. She dreamt of the next year, when maybe she'd be big enough and brave enough to ride her own sled and challenge her brother to a race. It had left a smile on her face that night, and in all the years to come, through even the very worst of it, that memory would help get her through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Pyro, that buckle thing was weird." 
> 
> Yes, well, welcome to my own earliest memory. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Prompt 3: Bundle Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike is a full grown adult who no longer needs someone to dress him for the winter weather. At least, that's what he thinks.

"Mike? Where are you going?" Mike paused in step and turned towards the voice. Chica was standing near the prize counter, and was looking at him curiously. Mike blinked, then shrugged and gestured with a thumb towards the door. 

"I gotta head out a bit early," He told her, "I've gotta run and grab groceries on my way home, and the store closes soon."

"Oh yeah, you did tell us that," Chica said, "but Mike, where's your coat?" 

"My…Coat? Er, I think I have one at home. I didn't bring one with me though."

Chica's face shifted, and Mike was taken aback when he realized she was trying her best to frown at him. She glanced towards the window, then back to Mike. She sat her cupcake down on the prize counter and crossed her arms - which was about as stern a look he'd ever seen on the easy-going chicken. It made him inexplicably nervous, like a kid caught in the cookie jar. 

"It's practically a blizzard out there, Mike. You can't go out there without a coat on!" She insisted. Mike blinked back at her, glanced towards the window - the snow  _ was  _ coming down pretty heavily - then back to Chica. 

"Chica, it's fine," Mike said with a soft laugh, "I'm just going to my car - it's only a few feet away. I'll be in my car, then in the store, and then home. I'm not gonna freeze in those short moments outside." To his surprise, his coaxing didn't work - if anything, Chica just tried even harder to frown. 

"It's absolutely not fine, Mike. You'll catch a cold or something if you go out there like that. Wait right here, I'll be back in a few minutes," Chica said, before she turned and walked away. Mike watched her go in bemusement, but he did as she asked and waited for her return. When she finally did come back, her arms were full of winter clothing - and Mike was almost positive it'd come from the lost and found. 

"There are a couple of adult-sized coats here," Chica said matter-of-factly, "so you can pick one. I also pulled out a hat, scarf, and gloves. So you can get nice and bundled up!" 

"Chica, those belong to someone else," Mike said with a soft laugh, "I'm not going to wear someone else's clothes. I'm telling you, I won't be outside long enough for it to matter. And I'll make sure to grab my coat when I'm home, alright? Promise." 

"Michael," Chica said, causing Mike to jerk in surprise, "if you don't put a coat on right this minute, you won't be going anywhere." 

"Wh - Chica, you're being unreasonable," Mike said, "C'mon - hey, what're you doing?" The animatronic had sat the pile of clothes down and started walking towards Mike, who quickly backed up. He could see that she fully intended to pick him up - and likely hold on to him until he agreed to wear the clothes or else it grew too late to go to the grocery store. Of course, it wasn't actually much of a threat - Mike was considerably faster than Chica. 

But then again, Chica had help. Mike didn't even noticed the footfalls behind him, only noticed the newcomer when they suddenly grabbed him in a tight hug and picked him up off the ground. Mike gave an alarmed shout and glanced down, spotting the golden paws holding on to him. 

"Spring! Put me down!" Mike said, squirming in the rabbit's hold, "are you two kidding me with this? You know I'm a grown adult, right?" 

"Sorry Mike, no can do," Spring Bonnie replied, sounding far too cheerful, "Chica's right! If you go out there without a coat, you're gonna get sick. So you have to put a coat on, or else you have to stay here. That's the rule!" 

"I am not wearing some strangers old, lost clothes! For one thing, it's gross - for both me and the owner if they come back for their coat. Second of all, I'm pretty sure it's stealing on some level," Mike insisted, pushing at the animatronic holding him. 

"Then I guess you have to stay here," Spring replied in a sing-song voice. 

"You -" 

"Everything okay out here, Mike?" Freddy asked as he peeked out from the hallway, Bonnie close behind him. 

"Absolutely not," Mike retorted, "would you tell these two to stop being ridiculous and let me go?" 

"Mike is the one being ridiculous," Chica said, "it looks frigid outside and he's trying to go out there without so much as a coat."

"Oh no, that is no good at all, Mike. You should listen to Chica, she's right, after all," Freddy said, and Mike wondered why they all sounded so cheerful about this. 

"And be nice to her, she's only trying to watch out for you," Bonnie added, eyes glinting in humor at Mike's scowl. 

"You two are no help at all! Alright, alright, fine! I'll put on a coat, just put me down," Mike grumbled. He heard the soft whir of Spring's ears perking up as the rabbit sat Mike back onto his feet. At which point, with a grin, Mike exclaimed "Psyche!" He ducked under Spring Bonnie's arm and ran for the door. "Sorry guys! Still not putting on nasty -  _ ach. _ " He'd nearly gotten to the door when he was suddenly caught - his shirt neck catching him around the throat - and lifted once more off his feet. 

"Now, now, lad, where ye be runnin' to? I think the lass made herself crystal clear that ye ain't gettin' outdoors without a coat," Foxy all but purred as he turned and headed back towards the others, Mike dangling helplessly from his hook. As they headed that way, Spring Bonnie and Chica both took clothes in their hands and turned towards Mike, beaming in their own ways. 

"This is the worst," Mike grumbled as Foxy set him down between the other two animatronics. Mike knew he was stuck, so he didn't run or fight any longer. He just stood there as they took turns dressing him in winter clothes. By the time they were done, Mike was standing there in a heavy winter coat that didn't belong to him, had a scratchy hat shoved onto his head, was wearing a pair of mismatched gloves, and had even had a scarf tucked tightly around his face. He glared out at the group from the bundle of winter clothing. Not one of them looked even a bit ashamed of themselves. 

"There! Now you can go and do your grocery shopping," Chica said, clapping her hands together cheerfully. "Oh! And Mike?" 

"Yes, Chica?" 

"We're running low on party streamers, could you pick some up while you're at the store?" 

"Yes, Chica."

"Oh, and one more thing?" 

"Yeah?" Mike asked, immediately feeling guilty about the slight undertone of exasperation in his voice. If it offended Chica, though, she didn't comment on it. Instead, to his surprise, she pulled him over into a tight hug. He sighed heavily, but then leaned into it, smiling as he did. 

"Love you, Mike," Chica said, still the voice of cheer. Mike laughed softly and then pushed away from her, peering over his scarf at the gathered animatronics. 

"Yeah yeah," He said, still smiling, "I love all of you too. Mother henning and all."

"Drive safe out there, Mike," Spring Bonnie chimed in. Mike nodded and turned to leave, waving a hand as he did. 

"Will do. I'll see you all later. Behave yourselves, no more stuffing people in clothes," He said, before heading out into the snow. He had to admit, it was nice to feel warm all the way to his car, instead of rushing because of the frigid snow. And despite his better judgement, and with Chica's face firmly in mind, he even kept the mismatched collection of winter gear on until he finally arrived home later that night. 


	4. Prompt 4: Frozen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sixteen year-old Michael Afton learns that there are still some good people in the world.

It was setting up to be a white Christmas. The holiday was a few days away, yet, but the snow had been coming down for hours and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. The snow was so heavy, they'd given up shoveling most of it, bringing the town to a standstill. People were cozied up inside of their homes, most stores and restaurants were closed, and the streets were extra quiet with the blanket of heavy snow covering them. No one in their right mind would be out in weather like that. 

But Michael Afton didn't have a choice, because he had nowhere else to go. He wasn't even a full sixteen years old, and he had no home to call his own. He'd used some of his small hoard of money to purchase a heavy coat, hat, and gloves, but they could only fight the cold out for so long. With the snow coming down so heavily, it wasn't long before his clothing was soaked through. His feet - not even fully booted - had long since gone numb from the cold. He couldn't stay out any longer, had to find  _ somewhere  _ to get out of the chill. But the money his father had shoved into his hands was wearing thinner each day, and even at the start hadn't been enough to even get a hotel room. His only hope would be a shelter of some sort, but Mike had no idea how to go about finding one of those. 

After awhile, he was elated to find he wasn't the only one out and about. A couple of women were leaving a bar, chattering happily and half-hanging off of each other. A pair of drunk adults were maybe not the best bastion of information, but Mike's options were limited. 

"E-excuse me," Mike chattered out as he approached the couple. One of the women immediately straightened up and looked at him. She steadied her partner, and then held up a warning hand towards Mike. 

"Alright kid, stop right there. We don't have anything and we don't want any trouble. Just trying to get home," the woman said. 

Mile stopped dead in his tracks, pulling his coat a bit tighter around his body. "N-no! I mean, no, I'm sorry. I don't - I don't want any trouble either. I just -" He paused, feeling himself tear up. He angrily swiped at his face. "I just wanted to know if you could help me," He continued, "I - I know there are s-shelters and stuff like that, but I don't know how to find t-them. If you could even just tell me where or who I should ask, I'd be really g-grateful."

"Shelters?" The other woman asked, "why don't you just go home, kid?" 

"I'm not allowed to go home," Mike muttered, tucking the coat more firmly around himself, "please. I'm freezing, I just want to get warm. Just for the night." Neither woman responded, instead looking to each other and communicating silently. They did that for a long moment, and Mike tried not to feel annoyed by it. "Nevermind," He muttered after a minute, "sorry for b-bothering you. I'll find someone el-lse to ask." 

"Hang on," one of the women said, "how old are you, kid?" 

"Fift - no, sixteen. Sorry," Mike responded. 

"Just have a birthday?" the other woman asked, her voice soft with sympathy. Mike just nodded in agreement. 

"Can you drive, kid?" The other asked. 

"Yes'm." 

"Okay. Then listen, we have an idea, alright? Any shelters are gonna be hard to get into this time of night, and they're going to be packed. So you can hang at our place for the night. You know, warm up, get some food. Tomorrow we'll help you find a more permanent solution, alright? Only catch is you gotta drive us home. We were gonna take a cab, but if you can drive my car, that saves us a lot of trouble," the woman said. 

Mike swallowed hard, imagining a warm couch and food with a desperate want. "You two aren't g-gonna kill me and sell my organs, are you?" He asked, not entirely joking despite the women's laughter. 

"No, I promise you'll be just fine," one said, "look, there's no ulterior motives here. I - I know what it's like to be kicked out. And alone. And it sucks. Especially so close to Christmas. So let us help you out and, hey, maybe someday you return the favor." When she put it that way, Mike couldn't argue with it. So he nodded and made his way over to the women. 

"What's your name?" The other, softer-spoken woman asked. 

"'s Mike."

"You like hugs, Mike?" She asked. And Mike thought it over for a second. Then, he nodded, and without missing a beat, the woman pulled him into a tight, warm embrace. She smelled like cigarette smoke and alcohol, and Mike's clothes were even more uncomfortable pushed up against his body. But he hugged her back regardless, his throat choking with emotion. 

"C'mon Mike," the other said, placing a warm hand on his shoulder, "let's get you somewhere warm. Hey, you like McDonalds? A milkshake might be extra good, once you’ve warmed back up.”

“I’m not a kid,” Mike said, with no heat whatsoever, “you don’t have to get me McDonalds.” 

“Yes you are,” the women who’d hugged him said, pulling back to smile kindly at him, “so act like it, okay?” Mike bit at his lip, and after a moment nodded. 

“Some...some chicken nuggets, might be good.” 

“Chicken nuggets it is.”


	5. Prompt 5: Too Many People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a busy December day at the arcade, Mike decides to slip away for some peace and quiet. Only, it turns out he isn't the only one.

Michael Afton was the owner, manager, and lead security guard for Fazbear Family Arcade. As someone in such a position, he was expected to have an air of formality and sociability whenever interacting with patrons. He needed to be visible on the floor while customers were about, deal with any of their complaints or needs, and make sure to have a smile for them all no matter what. This wasn't a surprise, Mike had known what he was getting in to, when he'd decided to rebrand and reopen the restaurant. 

He still hated it. 

He didn't hate people on principle, and he liked children in general. But the boisterous loudness that filled the Arcade - especially on the weekends - tended to be just too much for him. Those days often left him tired, worn, and grumpy. The day in question was a Saturday in December - a time of year busier than all the others. It was hardly two pm, and Mike had already hit his limit. When a group of children ran past him, screaming joyfully, Mike felt his blood pressure spike. He struggled to keep a pleasant - or at least neutral - look on his face as he turned and headed down the hallway. The noise faded behind him, and he let out a long breath as it did, feeling his body loosen. He heard a child cry, but didn’t pay the sound much attention - his employees would keep an eye out, and if there were a serious issue, the animatronics would let him know.

But then Mike heard the child cry again, and he realized the sound had grown closer. It was a child crying from somewhere down the hall, not back in the main area. Alarmed, Mike hurried down the hall. He peeked first into the office and, seeing it empty, backed up to the supply closet instead. When he peeked inside, he saw her - a young girl was sitting with her arms around her knees, tears streaking down her face. For a moment, Mike imagined all the worst scenarios - but she was alone, and he had to assume she’d simply gotten lost.

“Hey there,” he said, keeping his voice quiet. He moved in, then crouched to her level. “What on earth are you doing all the way back here?” 

The girl sniffed loudly and looked up, eyes widening when she saw him. She glanced around him at the door. “The door got stuck,” she said, “I couldn’t open it. And it was really dark and really scary and - “ she broke off, a fresh wave of tears filling her eyes. 

“Yeah, it can get kind of spooky back here, huh? But it’s okay - this is one of the safest places on earth, even in the scary dark areas. What’s your name?”

“Lainey,” the girl said, sufficiently distracted from her tears. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Lainey. My name’s Mike. And you don’t have to worry any more, okay? I’ve got that door open for you, so let’s get you back out to your guardian, okay?” 

“Am I in trouble?” She asked, looking worried all over again. Mike put on his best and kindest smile, then shook his head. 

“Not at all, Lainey. I am curious why you came back here, though. There aren’t any fun games or animatronics back here - just mops and stuff.”

“It was too loud,” she sniffed, “I just wanted to be quiet for a little bit. I wanted to be away from the people.”    


“Ah,” Mike said, feeling a blossom of warmth, “hey, you know what? Sometimes I just want to be quiet, too. As a matter of fact, I came back here for the same reason. It’s pretty loud out there today, isn’t it?”

“And - and there’s too many people,” Lainey agreed.

“Way too many,” Mike said, laughing, “but this isn’t quite the right place to hide out. Whoever’s with you is probably worried about you, by now. Come on, let’s head out there, okay? We don’t want them to worry.”

“Okay,” she said, sniffing again as she climbed to her feet. If Mike had to guess, she had to be ten, at the youngest. But even still, she held her hand out towards him. Still spooked, Mike assumed, and he couldn’t blame her a bit for that, could he? He smiled and took her hand, then stood and headed out of the supply closet.

“Lainey, do you want to know a secret?” Mike asked, glancing down at her, “it might help you, if you come back and need a quiet place again.” 

“Uh huh?” She asked, peering up at him.

“If you ask any of the animatronics really nicely, they’ll help you find a quiet, safe place,” Mike told her.

“They will?” 

“Yup, because they want to make sure everyone has a good time here. And they love kids, you know? So next time, just ask one of them. Just be sure to tell whoever you’re with where you’re going, okay?” 

“Do they help  _ you _ find quiet places?” Lainey asked him, and Mike couldn’t help but laugh.    


“Well, I have my own private office,” he told her, “but they’ve helped me in a lot of other ways, so I know they’re good at it.” 

“Lainey! There you are!” A voice called out, interrupting their conversation. An older woman hurried over to them and grabbed Lainey up into a hold. “I was starting to get worried! Are you alright?”

“‘M fine, mom,” Lainey said, squirming slightly in the woman’s hold, “I got scared but then Mike came and helped me.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Lainey’s mother said, looking to Mike, “thank you for finding her. I hope she didn’t cause any trouble?”    


“No, none at all. She just got a little tired of the crowd,” Mike reassured her, “I’m just glad I was able to help. Lainey? Just remember what I told you, okay?”

“Okay,” Lainey agreed, peering over back at him. And then she gave him a small, shy smile. “Thank you, Mike.” 

“Yes, thank you so much, again,” her mom added.

“You’re both welcome,” Mike said again, waving as they walked away. He watched them go, feeling lighter than he had before finding Lainey. He looked over the crowd for a long moment, and then turned and headed back to his office, this time getting there uninterrupted. He relaxed and unwound, and then he began to brainstorm ideas for implementing a real quiet place into the Arcade. After all, he wanted the Arcade to be a place of joy for everyone.


	6. Prompt 6: Stuffed!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, Michael Afton doesn't meet the kids that would endear him to the animatronics. He's not saved by Bonnie, doesn't make friends with the rest. In an alternate universe, Michael Afton doesn't survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a dark, bad-end take on Mike's time at the first location. It's not especially graphic, but does include major character death. Next chapter will be fluff - feel free to skip this one, if you'd prefer!

Mike sat the mask down to this left and let out a long breath. That’d been a close one - he could hear the  _ plap plap  _ of Toy Bonnie’s feet walking away down the hallway. No time to dwell on close calls, though - he had to stay on his toes. Mike went to hit the light for the central hallway, but before he could, a massive brown paw struck the desk in front of him with a heavy crash. Mike let out a scream and shot back away from the desk, clattering to his feet. He stared up at the massive animatronic - it was the old, broken down Freddy, and it was staring down at him. Toy Freddy was its own brand of creepy, but this animatronic was downright intimidating. Terrifying. Its jaw hung loose from the rest of its head, and flopped awkwardly every time the animatronic moved. It leaned closer, eyes peering brokenly at Mike, who was staring back in sheer terror. 

And then the animatronic reached for him. Mike shot away again and pressed against the wall, panting as he tried to figure out some means of escape. Freddy shoved the desk away as he moved forward, as if the furniture weren’t even there. Without any other ideas, Mike braced himself and then shot forward, aiming for the hallway. He kept as close to the side of the room as possible and ducked, trying to avoid Freddy’s massive grab. 

But the human wasn’t quick or clever enough, not to get away from the bear. One massive hand grabbed Mike painfully around the waist and hefted him into the air. Mike was pulled closer to Freddy, even as he screamed, until the bear managed to grab him firmly in both hands. Then, Freddy turned and started his way down the hallway, holding on to the struggling, screaming human with no obvious exertion at all. 

Mike shoved and pushed and struggled as much as he could, trying to loosen Freddy’s grip even a little. Just enough to slip away. All he needed was one chance - but Freddy was too strong. Mike couldn’t get away. Freddy didn’t even seem to notice his efforts - he just kept walking. 

They ended up in the parts and services room, among the scattered bits and parts of the animatronics. For a moment, Freddy paused, and Mike saw a chance. He looked up at the animatronic’s face, peered at it through the tears running in his eyes.

“Freddy, please, please don’t do this,” Mike begged, “please. I never hurt anyone - I just want to go home. Please put me down. Please let me go.” But his pleas fell on deaf ears. If Freddy even understood him, the animatronic didn’t react. After a moment, he began to walk again, and when Mike looked, he saw that they were heading for the old, broken down Bonnie. The animatronic shifted, and the pinpricks of red light peered over at Mike. "No, no, Freddy -" Mike continued to beg, even as the animatronic walked over to the fallen bunny. Suddenly, Mike could hear the phone call clear as day in his head. 

Endoskeleton without a suit. Whether or not Freddy really believed that, the bear intended to follow protocol. And there was nothing Mike could do about it. All he could do was watch, even as Freddy used one hand and twisted Bonnie's head from his shoulders. All Mike could do was scream and beg as the animatronic lifted the night guard over the slumped suit. Over the metal and wires inside. 

The only benefit was that the experience was blessedly quick. Not quick enough - there were long moments in which Mike screamed, the lower half of his body twisting and cracking and breaking and  _ bleeding,  _ but then something more final broke, and there was no more pain. There was no more anything, except a horrible awareness, and a visual feed Mike couldn't quite understand. 

He was staring out into the brown - a fuzzy body stood between Mike and anything else in sight. It didn't hurt - he was thankful it didn't hurt. He wasn't screaming or crying any longer, he couldn't. 

The night guard was finished, when Freddy brought the heavy animatronic head back down onto its shoulders. With that, there was one less adult in the world. 


	7. Prompt 7: Sweater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The animatronics make Mike a Christmas present.

"We should have done more," Bonnie said, tugging on an ear, "this isn't - what is this? People don't like getting clothes as gifts."

"Sure they do! Maybe not the kids so much, but Mike's an adult." Chica said, "Bonnie, stop worrying so much. He's going to love it, I just know it!" 

“Aye, lad’d like anything we gave ‘im, ye know. And it ain't like we got many opportunities for gift givin'," Foxy added. 

"And it's so nicely wrapped," Spring Bonnie said, "we all put a lot of effort into this - and I think it shows! It's going to be just fine, Bonnie."

"I hope you're all right," Bonnie said, looking over towards Freddy. The bear animatronic was holding a box - wrapped in a shimmering silver paper and dark blue ribbon. "It does look nice, doesn't it?" Bonnie added. 

Freddy shifted suddenly, his ears moving upwards on his head. Bonnie turned to look and, sure enough, Mike was pushing the door to the Arcade open. He looked tired - to Bonnie, the human always did, especially when he believed he wasn't being watched. All of the animatronics had noticed, though, that it had seemed to worsen with the advent of the holiday season. Of course, Mike paused when he noticed the collection of animatronics, and some of that tiredness faded when he tilted his head and gave them an uncertain smile. 

"Hey guys," Mike said as he finished walking in, shutting the door behind him, "what's going on?" 

Freddy, ever the leader, took a step forward and lifted his hands slightly. "We have put a Christmas present together for you, we hope you like it."

Mike blinked and approached the bear. He glanced around at all of them, and then looked to the present. After a moment, he reached out and took it - he was gentle with it, as if afraid of breaking it. "You guys got this for me? All of you?" 

"Yeah! Well, as long as you like it," Bonnie said, "if you don't, then it was all Foxy's idea."

"Hey!" Foxy exclaimed as Mike laughed. 

"It's from  _ all  _ of us," Chica said, "no matter what he says - Bonnie picked the color, actually." 

"Thank you, guys. Let's see, huh?" Mike said, and then he began to open the package. Once it was unwrapped he set the box down and held the gift up. It was a sweater, and to Mike, it looked a bit like a craft put together by a group of children. The base of the sweater was dark blue - his preferred color choice - and it was covered in a variety of patches and fabrics. As far as he could tell, they seemed to be hot glued on. There was a patch of yellow and black stripes along the right side of the sweater. A big, puffy red ball was attached at the chest. A black bowtie sat on the turtleneck collar. The back left of the sweater had a patch of yellow ducks - Mike was fairly certain it'd come from an old curtain somewhere. The  _ front  _ left had a patch depicting a pirate flag. Those were the additions he could pick out and assign to the animatronics, but there were other small additions scattered in it as well. A little glitter there, a few sticky stars here. It was, over all, a blinding mishmash of fabrics and shapes - and Mike couldn't help but grin. 

"I knew it," Bonnie said, and when Mike looked at the rabbit, he saw him looking dejected, "it's terrible, isn't it? It's hard to get presents here, you know? You're really the only one we can ask, this was a real hassle - but we'll figure something good out, Mike. I promise! This was just -" 

" _ Bonnie _ ," Mike interrupted, shaking his head, "what on earth are you talking about? I love it. In fact." He paused and slipped his current shirt off, then pulled the sweater over his head. Despite its appearance, he found that it was incredibly soft and very comfortable to the touch. He hugged his arms tight around his body and smiled. "I mean come on, you guys took the time to make this for me? And it's so comfortable - thank you all, truly."

"Oh…then, you're welcome!" Bonnie said, perking back up. 

"We know it be a bit, ah, colorful," Foxy added, "guess we got a bi' carried away tryin' ta make it special for ye."

"Well, you did it," Mike said, "it's unique, and it's got a little bit of all of you in it. And you know? I bet the kids will love it, too."

"And it looks good on you," Chica said, clapping her hands together, "it matches your - uhm. Well, it doesn’t match much. But, it's bright and colorful, anyway!" 

“We are quite glad you like it,” Freddy rumbled, “happy holidays, Mike.” 

"Happy holidays, everyone."


	8. Prompt 8: How Did You...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate timeline, Mike is the one who goes to Circus Baby's. When he fails to come home one morning, an unstoppable force descends on Circus Baby's Pizza World.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important note for this chapter - this borders on a crack fic, to be honest. It's written in seriousness, but there are 101 reasons why it wouldn't work in canon for the Family series - not the least including issues with physics and reality. So, to quote some of my favorite people, come and play in this space with me. ;) Set aside things like the laws of physics and, hopefully, enjoy. I had fun writing this one.

In an alternate world, Fritz Smith didn't put in an application, he wasn't found by Henry or offered the job. In a different timeline, Mike was the one who took the job at Circus Baby's - much to the worry of his animatronic family. His experiences were similar, up to and including the end of the third night, where he was jumped and knocked unconscious by Funtime Foxy and stuffed inside of the springlock Funtime Chica suit. But unlike Fritz, Mike didn't have a human waiting for him to come home - at least, not one that could do much beyond look desperately at the cameras to try and find some sign of the wayward guard. And, then, turn to the only beings he knew that could be of any help. 

Of course, that didn't mean Mike didn't have anyone - in fact, he had a restaurant full of someone's who noticed immediately when he did not return. And they were chomping at the bit by the time 7 in the morning rolled around. It took Mike half an hour to get from Circus Baby's back to the Arcade - he was already far too late. When Henry came, braving the animatronics in order to seek their assistance, they knew things were serious. Mike was in danger. 

They all wanted to go to him, but Freddy - ever the voice of reason - convinced them otherwise. He would go, and he would go alone.

"There is nothing there that could stop me from getting to Mike," the bear rumbled, "and you all will be needed here - we do not have the authority to shut the Arcade down, after all. You will simply have to let the staff and the children know that I am having some repairs done."

"Find him, Freddy. Make sure you bring him home," Bonnie had replied - surprisingly, he was the one to complain the least. Or, perhaps, not so surprising - Bonnie knew that Freddy was something of an unstoppable force, and that Mike had the best chance with the bear at his back. Bonnie had his pride, to be sure, but Mike's safety was his top priority. 

And so Freddy Fazbear did the unthinkable. He left the Arcade - his home - and made his way to Circus Baby's. He couldn't remember ever having traveled in a car before - not even in the back of a van, as was the case now. It wasn't especially comfortable, but he couldn't bring himself to care much. It was a means to an end. 

When Henry attempted to join Freddy within Circus Baby's, the bear animatronic shook his head. 

"You are important to Mike," he said, "as such, I cannot risk that you come to any harm. Additionally and, with all due respect, I cannot have you in my way. I will fetch Mike - you need not worry about either of us." Thankfully, the older human didn't put up much fuss. He'd wanted to - he'd almost said something, Freddy could see it - but in the end, he'd nodded and gestured for the animatronic to go ahead. And so, Freddy did. 

Freddy met his first obstacle at the bottom of the long elevator ride. He didn't particularly enjoy the elevator ride - not because he was afraid, but because he could only imagine Mike making the same trip day after day. He knew his human well, and knew that something like the elevator would be enough to get the man's adrenaline pumping. Mike was good at facing down his own fear - but Freddy didn't like to think of him afraid in the first place. 

At any rate, Freddy found that the vent offered to him was too small for his frame. Foxy might have managed, but Freddy was simply too wide to fit. Of course, he was Freddy Fazbear. And nothing was going to keep him from his human. So Freddy did what Freddy did best - he went, regardless of any obstruction in his path. It wasn't good for his hide - he could tell that the jagged metal and tight fit scratched and dented his fur suit and the metal beneath. But it was far rougher on the vent itself - the metal groaned and bent and snapped as he shoved his way past it. 

When his hat snapped away and tumbled behind him, it only fueled his determination - and his anger. He didn't know anything but what Mike had told them about the animatronics who called this place their home. But in that moment, Freddy felt no kinship with them. He would not simply let them walk away from what they had done. 

His next obstacle came in the form of a small, closed off room - its only exits being the vents on all sides. Or, for Freddy, the windows of glass giving him direct access into the individual rooms. No voice had yet spoken up to greet him - rude, if you asked him - nor even to demand an explanation for his existence. And so he had to guess. With a low grinding of metal, he swung his fist through the glass to his right. It took some effort to maneuver his bulk over the windowsill, given he didn't quite have the range of motion that Foxy did, but he made it in the end. 

His eyes flickered to life, bathing the dark room in a bright blue glow. Freddy began to walk, but had not made it far when he was beset upon by a colorful blur. They were strong and angry - but Freddy was stronger and far angrier. He snatched the animatronic by the throat and held them away from him - Funtime Foxy, by the look of them. They snarled at him and snapped in his direction, but Freddy simply narrowed his eyes. 

"Where is he?" Freddy asked in a deep rumble, "what have you done with him?" 

"Get out of here," the fox responded, their voice surprisingly melodic given their angry snarls, "you don't belong here - leave!" 

"Not without Mike," Freddy responded, and then he began to squeeze. Animatronics couldn't feel pain - but they could feel fear. And when a crack appeared in Foxy's throat with a sound like a gunshot, Funtime Foxy froze. 

"He's in the scooping room," Funtime Foxy said quickly after that, "inside the suit." Freddy tossed the fox to the ground, continuing to stare hard at them. 

"Show me."

"T-this way!" 

Freddy followed the fox to a perfectly average looking metal door. Before they could go through it, however, a massive endoskeleton stepped into their path. Freddy had never seen one quite like it - it was a different creature from their own brand, to be sure. It's metal parts seemed to be all wires, and it stood a head or two taller than Freddy himself. Still, even without facial features, Freddy could see the hardness and anger in the endoskeleton's green eyes. 

"You will go no further," a soft, feminine voice said, "I do not know how you came here, or why you are here, but you will be leaving now."

"You have done something with Mike," Freddy answered, "and he is important to me - and so, I will not be going anywhere until you produce him. Then, he and I will both be going home."

"I have no idea what you are going on about," the endoskeleton replied, "you -" 

Freddy grabbed then, much like he had Funtime Foxy, and dragged the endoskeleton close, until they were eye to eye. "You will give me Mike, or show me to him," Freddy said, feeling the words snarling in his voice box, "or I will tear through anything and anyone I have to, in order to find him myself."

The endoskeleton narrowed their own eyes in return, and Freddy felt their hands grip his arms in retaliation. A clear threat that Freddy ignored entirely. "You don't scare me, bear," the endoskeleton snarled in reply. They looked appropriately startled, though, when Freddy's response was a laugh - a deep, dark chuckle reserved for the targets of his ire. 

"I should." Freddy wasted no time in simply ripping the other animatronic apart - it wasn't physically easy, but the difficulty escaped Freddy entirely - so lost was he in his rage. He could feel it lighting up his circuits like flames - a familiar and horrible feeling that was empowering, all the same. It didn't happen often these days, rarely ever in fact - he couldn't so much as risk it showing its face when there were little ones around, after all. It was a rage that he had to keep in check, for now there were innocents who could be hurt in its wrath. Some already had - Mike included, to Freddy's eternal shame. 

But in this moment, he let it consume him entirely. He would use any tool at his disposal - the endoskeleton animatronic would regret standing in his way. At least, for the moment or two they had to regret anything. No matter its source - haunted or not - no animatronic could function once its CPU was crushed. The pieces of the endoskeleton fell from Freddy's hands - appropriately subdued and no longer a threat. 

All it took was one black-eyed glance at Funtime Foxy and the fox was scrambling away, shaking their head. 

"He's in that room!" They said, pointing, "inside of Chica. He's not - I didn't hurt him! I didn't even want to put them there, she  _ made  _ me." Freddy tried to respond, but the garbled mess that came out was indecipherable. Funtime Foxy got the hint though. With a grimace, the fox scrambled away and out of sight. With a grunt, Freddy turned for the door, stepped over the pieces of endoskeleton, and entered the room. 

Freddy would not be able to describe anything about the room, later. Funtime Foxy had mentioned a Chica, and so that was what Freddy looked for. And there she was - a Chica made in an improved mockery of the toy version he'd once known. Like the other Funtime animatronics, she was metallic and brightly colored. She was also hollow - or, at least, she was meant to be. 

"Freddy?" A voice asked from her depths, and Freddy would recognize that voice anywhere. It no longer mattered how far he had fallen into the darkness of his anger - Mike's voice could always break through. And, in the moment, Mike's voice was small and afraid. And Freddy could not abide that. 

He would apologize for his rashness later, when all was said and done and logic finally caught up to him. But he was not his logical self in that moment, and he only knew one thing. The metal suit stood between Mike and safety - and so Freddy would make it gone. And so he did. Perhaps he broke some important mechanism right away, or maybe he tore through it so quickly it had no time to snap, or maybe it was just a stroke of good luck. Regardless, Freddy's quick and brutal take apart of the suit did not set it off - and before long it, too, was in pieces on the floor. And Mike stood there, right where it had been - wide eyed and far too pale and shaking, but alive. And, so far as Freddy could see, physically unharmed. 

"F-Freddy?" Mike asked, his voice dry - likely due to his long abduction. "Is it really - how did you…?" 

Freddy tried to answer, but still his system fought him and that same garbled mess came out. So instead, he stepped forward and grabbed the human and, ignoring the man's slight yelp, pulled him close and wrapped his arms around him. Freddy closed his eyes, focusing on letting the rage bleed away - and as was often the case, his music box twinkled in response. A calming melody for himself and, he hoped, for Mike. After a long moment, he felt the human relax against him with a heavy, shaky sigh. 

"We were worried when you did not return home," Freddy rumbled, his voice box back under control, "and so, I came to find you. I am very glad I was in time."

"How did you even get here? How did you get down here? I'm - Don't get me wrong, I'm happy, but I just don't…understand," Mike said, voice slightly muffled against Freddy's fur. 

"Ah, well, that is easy," Freddy said with some cheer as he slipped his arms under the human and lifted him into a hold. He could tell Mike was exhausted and stressed - he didn't fight at all, and in fact relaxed against the bear. "You see Mike, you are family. And there is no force on this earth that will keep me from protecting my family."


	9. Prompt 9: Greeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometime after the events at Circus Baby's, Mike meets Fritz's mother. It's the most stressful encounter he's ever had. (A/N: Contains a pre-established romantic relationship between Michael Afton and Fritz Smith)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: This chapter runs off the existence of a pre-established romantic relationship between Mike and Fritz. Is this canon? That's TBD.

Mike was standing still as huge, furred fingers did their best to properly tie and adjust the bowtie around his neck. It was a scene that normally would have had him smiling, maybe even laughing, but he couldn't push past the nerves in his stomach to manage either. He glanced at what he could see of himself in the mirror - he was sweating, obviously nervous, and the beanie on his head looked ridiculous compared to the nicer suit he was wearing on his body. 

"Okay, okay," Mike said, batting the hands away, "I appreciate the attempt, Freddy, but I don't think your fingers have the dexterity for this."

"Perhaps not," Freddy agreed with a rumble as he pulled his hands away, "apologies, Mike."

"Don't worry about it, old bear," Mike said, fixing the bowtie himself, "like I said, I really do appreciate the thought." He finished with the tie and sighed, still looking himself over with a critical eye. "Hey, maybe you can help me with something else. This," He reached up and tugged at the edge of the beanie, "looks ridiculous. But I don't really want…"

"Say no more, you need a different sort of hat," Freddy mused, "but one that will still cover the scars." He hummed softly, then lifted a finger. "Ah, I have just the thing. Here we are." He reached up for his own hat and gave it a twist before removing it from his head. 

"Oh, hey, Freddy, no," Mike said, shaking his head, "not your hat. That's - well, that's your hat!" 

"And it is perfect for the job," Freddy rumbled, "it isn't so big that it'll look out of place, but it is big enough to cover at least the worst of the scarring. And, it matches fairly well to that suit of yours. Come now, Mike, I would not offer this to just anyone. I trust you to take good care of it." Mike studied the animatronic for a moment before nodding. He slipped the beanie from his head and, shortly after, it was replaced by Freddy's tophat. The bear lowered it carefully, and then adjusted it. Mike had been worried it would look ridiculous, but Freddy had been right. It was larger than the average top hat, but not quite too big for his head. But it covered a majority of his scars well, and matched the suit just fine. And for the first time all evening, Mike smiled. 

"It's perfect," He said, "thanks, Freddy."

"You are quite welcome, Mike. And Mike," Freddy said, before reaching out. Mike blinked as the animatronic pressed his fingers to Mike's cheeks. "You will make the best first impression if you  _ smile.  _ You do not want Ms. Smith to think you are a grump, do you? No mother would want her son dating a grump." 

"Okay, okay," Mike said, and he laughed softly as he pushed Freddy's hands away. "Point taken, stop that. I'm just - I'm nervous. I want to make a good impression - I want…I'm worried she'll look too close. See too much."

"Oh Mike, what on earth is there to see?" Freddy asked in his warm, deep voice. "What I see is a good and caring man, who risked life and limb to save the life of his significant other, before they were even together. Fritz is lucky to have you, and Ms. Smith will be lucky to have met you."

"But, there's…I just…" Mike swallowed hard when Freddy put his hands on the human's shoulders. 

"You are not your family," the bear said sternly, "you are not your father. You are a good person - regardless of what life has thrown at you. She will not look at you and find you wanting - because you are not. Just be yourself, Mike, and let her look. If she is of good character, she will see that you are too." Mike closed his eyes and stood there, not responding, just soaking in the moment. He took in Freddy's words and tried to make them stick. 

"Smile, Mike," Freddy rumbled, "and get you gone - you do not want to be late." Mike took a deep breath and opened his eyes, peering up into Freddy's blue. It took him a moment, but he forced a smile to his face and, after a minute, it began to feel more natural. 

"Yeah, you're right. Thank you, Freddy." Mike clasped a hand on one of Freddy's wrists. 

"You're welcome," Freddy said, "Good luck, Mike." He slipped his hands away and turned Mike, giving him a gentle shove away. With a deep breath, Mike went. 

* * *

Fritz's mother lived in a normal looking home tucked in the corner of a subdivision. Mike brought his car to a stop in front of it and stared at it, adjusting his bowtie again. He let out a long breath and reached up, running a finger along the brim of Freddy's hat. It made him feel a bit better - like having a bit of the animatronics with him even there, out in the normal, human world. Mike took another bracing breath, then headed for the door. At the door he straightened and gave his bowtie and suit a few tugs to be sure they were fully straight. Then, finally, he knocked. 

A moment or two later, Fritz opened the door. The other man took a quick look at Mike, then beamed at him, taking a slight step back. 

"Hey Mike! Glad you made it okay. Come on in - uh, you know, didn't realize how nicely you can clean up, but you look really good!" 

"Thanks," Mike said, rubbing the back of his neck as he walked in, "this isn't overkill, is it? I thought, you know, good first impression and all."

"Nah, it looks good. You didn't have to get all dressed up, but mom will appreciate it. Hey," Fritz stepped closer and leaned up, narrowing his eyes slightly, "is that what I think it is?" 

"Uhh, yeah," Mike said, touching the hat again, "he let me borrow it for the night. Does it look bad?" 

"No, no, it looks fine," Fritz said, "I'm just, uh, surprised, is all. It was nice of him to lend it, though. So, uh, hey, you ready?" 

"No," Mike admitted with a nervous laugh, "not even close, but, ok."

"What, are you nervous? You?" Fritz asked, grinning slightly. "C'mon Mike, look at, uh, all the things you've faced down. And you're afraid of my  _ mom?  _ She's, uh, she's not likely to bite, you know. That makes her probably the safest thing you've ever met."

"Yeah, well, I want her to like me," Mike said, "that's not usually first priority when it comes to the other stuff."

"She's gonna like you just fine," Fritz said, and then he grabbed Mike's hand and squeezed it, "C'mon, the sooner I introduce you, the sooner you can relax." And with that, he lead Mike from the living room and to the kitchen. In the kitchen, there was a table set for three seats and a number of dishes - Mike spotted meatloaf and rice and a medley of roasted vegetables. Fritz's mom heard them enter and turned.

Mike's first impression was that she had the same, easy-going spirit as Fritz. Her brown eyes were bright and happy, and she beamed widely when she looked at Mike. She hurried over towards the two men, and without a word snatched Mike's hands up in her own. She squeezed them, the look on her face growing warm as she looked Mike over. 

"So then, you must be Mike," she said, "it's so very nice to meet you, finally. I've heard a lot about you, you know - I'm so glad Fritz has finally brought you around. How are you, sweetheart?" 

"Hi, uh, Ms. Smith," Mike said, "it's really nice to meet you too, and I’m doing alright, thank you for asking."

"Please call me Rosie, Mike. Now then, we can chat some more over dinner, hm? Standing here is just gonna be awkward for us both. I hope you've brought an appetite!" She said, smiling and letting his hands go. 

"Fritz did warn me to come with an empty stomach," Mike said, following their lead as the other two took seats at the table, "and this all looks…delicious. Thank you for having me, Ms - er, Rosie."

"As far as I'm concerned, dinner's the least I can do for someone who makes Fritz so happy," Rosie responded, "so tuck in, and you can tell me all about your business." 

"Y-yeah, okay."

* * *

"You see? I knew she'd like you," Fritz told Mike later, as they were sitting on the swing on Fritz's back porch, "who wouldn't?" 

"Plenty of people, I'm sure," Mike responded, gripping his hands together in his lap, "it really went okay?" 

"Yes," Fritz said, stressing the word. He reached over and took Mike's hand in his own, his hold warm. "Mike, it went fine! She, uh, she really liked you. She told me before all this that she was sure she'd like you, you know? I think she just wanted to meet you and, uh, give you a nice meal. She'll want to have you over plenty more, now, I'm sure. So you can stop worrying, okay?"

Mike looked over at Fritz and, after a minute, felt a slight smile cross his face. He lifted their conjoined hands to his face and kissed Fritz's knuckle. 

“That’s not my strong suit,” Mike said, “but for you, Fritz, I’ll try.” Fritz laughed at that and shoved his shoulder playfully against Mike.    
  
“Alright, you sap. C’mon, let’s get back inside. I’m pretty sure mom made blueberry pie for dessert.” And, with the promise of sweets, Mike perked up and follow Fritz back inside. 


	10. Prompt 10: Fresh Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate world, 18 year old Mike gains the trust of the Toy and Withered animatronics at the same time. After their location closes, he continues to sneak in to take care of his newfound friends. Then one day, he finds a secret room - and another golden animatronic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to CorporalRegicide for the idea for this prompt~

In an alternate timeline, Mike didn't let the music box wind down. He didn't see Jeremy and had no idea that his brother was watching out for him. Thankfully, in that alternate world, things worked out a little differently anyway. When Mike stood between the two wayward children and the toy animatronics, he earned the toy's respect as surely as the withered's. In that timeline, Mike enjoyed a day to day existence in which all of the animatronics were his friends - even, eventually, the puppet. When the restaurant inevitably shut down again due to William's actions, Mike didn't abandon his newfound friends. Instead, he kept returning to the building, long past its boarded up windows and 'no trespassing' signs. 

And then one day, Mike came across an old, abandoned room. It was located behind a heavy, wooden door that turned out to be very difficult to move. With time and effort, Mike finally managed it. Inside, he found a stale, cobweb-covered room. It was mostly full of old boxes and bits of unusable metal parts. 

And a giant, golden bear that was slumped in a corner.

When Mike spotted the bear, everything inside of him screeched to a halt. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think - the world around him narrowed to a pinpoint until all he could see was the bear. It was familiar - hauntingly familiar. It was larger than any of the other animatronics, even the older Freddy model. Its golden hide had lost some of its sheen, mostly because of the dust that'd gathered in its fibers. The purple hat and bowtie were similarly dulled. It was deactivated, or else asleep, slouched over in place with closed eyes and no sign of movement. 

There was a brown-black stain covering the front of its neck and torso. It looked as if they never even tried to clean the blood away.

The last time Mike had seen the bear, only three short years ago, Jeremy's head had been crushed within its jaws. Seeing it now was like reliving that moment over once again. Mike's blood pounded in his ears - did he hear screaming? 

No. No. He shook his head firmly and took a step back. That event was passed. He was eighteen, and he was standing in the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's pizza. Golden bear or not, Mike was not in Fredbear's Family Diner. Jeremy was not trapped in the jaws of the beast. He was dead, and Fredbear was deactivated. Trying to push back the panic and the overwhelming urge to cry, Mike turned to leave, fully intending to shut the door behind him and never go back to the room. 

"Stop." A voice suddenly commanded, the word so deep Mike felt it in his bones. Mike turned slightly in place and looked back, jumping away in alarm when he met Fredbear's green eyes. Mike wanted to run - he wanted to very badly - but the bear's command cemented him in place. As he watched, Fredbear tilted his neck back and forth, the metal in his body creaking loudly.

"Come and help an old bear to his feet, would you?" Fredbear continued in that same deep voice. Immediately, Mike shook his head, not even stopping to consider the request. "No?" Fredbear asked, sounding genuinely surprised, "well, that doesn't seem very kind. Hold on a moment…" The bear paused and studied Mike, who grew closer to running with every passing second. The only thing that really held him there was the bear's command, and the hope that the animatronic couldn't move very fast. 

"You're frightened of me, aren't you?" Fredbear asked. As he did, his ears twitched upwards, though their movement was slow. Mike swallowed hard and, deciding honesty was the best policy, nodded. "Well, there's no need for that, young man. Would you at least come closer?" 

"I - I need to get back," Mike stammered, "to…to my friends."

"Oh, please don't go yet," Fredbear asked, "I haven't spoken to anyone in ages. I won't be going anywhere very quickly, it takes me a long time to get to my feet, and I have never been much for sprinting. If you won't help me, at least keep me company for a while. Please?" 

Mike knew he shouldn't. He didn't know what the bear remembered, or didn't, but how could Mike trust him? Sure, the other animatronics had grown to like him and were over all harmless - now - but it had taken time to get there. Beyond that, being near the bear was making Mike tremble, and there was a cascade of thoughts and memories just waiting to flood him at any second. He had to get back to the others. 

So, of course, he took a few steps towards Fredbear, instead. The bear shifted slightly when he did, and Mike froze in place, another shiver running through him. But a shift was all Fredbear did, his ears rising slightly on his head. 

"That's better," Fredbear said, "now I can actually see you. Ah." He paused, and his eyelids fell slightly, as if he were focusing. "Ah. I see, now. I understand. This must be quite the surprise for you."

"I really h-have to go," Mike said, deciding that was too much for him. Bad enough to be face to face with the bear at all, but if Fredbear remembered…

"Now hold on just a minute there, Michael," Fredbear said, and Mike let out a soft gasp as his breath caught in his throat. He was trembling again - he felt like he'd been doing a lot of that, ever since he'd started this job. Then, horrifyingly, the bear began to pull himself to his feet. It  _ was  _ a tediously long process - Fredbear moved inch by inch, metal screeching and grinding as he did. Mike's trapped breath turned to quick and labored breathing, and he knew he should run - but he was frozen in place. Frozen by fear. 

Frozen by guilt. 

Eventually, the bear was standing. Even three years later, he still towered over Mike, who barely came to just above Fredbear's stomach. Fredbear reached out and steadied himself against the wall, before finally turning his eyes back to Mike. When he twitched as if preparing to step forward, Mike's 'freeze' response finally kicked off. Unfortunately, flight wasn't in its place. Instead, Mike fell to his knees and tucked his head into his chest, lifting his arms to cover the back of it. He sat there, trembling, waiting for the inevitable attack. 

"I'm sorry," He said, realizing only then that he was sobbing, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it, I d-didn't mean for that to h-happen. I never would have - I'm so sorry."

For a long, heavy pause, nothing happened. Fredbear didn't speak, didn't move, and Mike curled in tighter on himself, sure that at any moment the golden bear would take revenge for the child he'd been forced to kill. Then, finally, something grabbed Mike and began to lift him. He cried out in alarm and trembled even more violently, but he didn't even try to fight back. How could he, against something like Fredbear? The bear's hands shifted until he was holding Mike under the arms. After a moment of no further movement, Mike hesitantly opened his eyes and looked. Through the tears, he could see Fredbear looking back at him. 

"There, there," Fredbear rumbled, "that's enough of that. It was a terrible accident, and you were only just a boy." He paused, and then laughed softly, "Look at you. You're  _ still  _ only a boy." If anyone else had said as much to Mike, he would have protested. But seeing as it was Fredbear and Mike still wasn't convinced the bear wasn't about to rip him into pieces, he just continued to stare in terror. 

Carefully, Fredbear sat Mike back on his feet and held him there for a second, as if waiting to make sure the human didn't fall back over. They watched each other for a long moment - it was clear Fredbear was waiting for Mike to say something. 

"I…I wasn't," Mike finally said, "I mean. I should have known better. I was…I was old enough to know better."

"Oh Michael. Do you really think you are the first child to pass through these doors to tease - or even bully - another? In fact, that is quite common. Even among siblings - perhaps, especially among them." Fredbear said. Mike looked at the bear, feeling that familiar, all-encompassing tightness in his chest he so often felt when thinking about Jeremy. 

"I shouldn't have let them put him in your mouth," Mike said quietly, eyes falling to the dark stain on Fredbear's front, "my father always warned us to keep our distance from the animatronics."

"But did he tell you why?" 

"Vaguely."

"Then how could you have known? Perhaps it wasn't smart - perhaps it was even a tad cruel, if you knew any injury at all was possible. But how could you have known the horror that would happen? You didn't, did you?" Fredbear asked. 

"No!" Mike exclaimed, "no! I…I don't know what was wrong with me, or why I treated him like that, but I didn't hate him! I loved him! I didn't…I -" he broke off, throat closing as hot emotion overwhelmed him. Ignoring the terrifying presence of the giant animatronic, Mike pressed his hands to his eyes as tears burned in them. After a second, he felt Fredbear's massive paw land on his shoulder, and Mike couldn't even be bothered to be terrified any longer.

"So, you see," the animatronic said, "Perhaps your actions were cruel, but you were not driven by evil. You were a child, and you made a mistake. A dreadful mistake that will never leave you, but simply a mistake all the same. You see, Michael, humanity makes mistakes. It is, perhaps, what it does best. Sometimes, the consequences of those mistakes are bigger than we can bear. But regardless of the mistakes, or their consequences, they do not erase the good that is inside you."

Mike lifted his head to look at the animatronic, blinking a few times to try and clear the tears. Fredbear was watching him, his face not moving much - as was typical of the animatronics. But despite that, he didn't look angry. He didn't look aggressive. He just watched Mike and waited for the human to respond. For his part, Mike had to take a long minute to gather himself. For all the terror the giant bear animatronic invoked, in a way his presence had a sort of grounding effect. The human focused on the heavy paw on his shoulder and breathed deeply. After a bit, he felt more in control of himself. Weary and tired and still somewhat afraid, but more in control. 

"You…really think that?" Mike asked. 

"I know it," Fredbear responded with a rumble. 

"Oh Mike~" A voice, its words musical even as they were spoken, interrupted the moment. "Mikey, where'd you gooo?~" Mike jerked slightly at the voice and looked back towards the doorway.

“Uh, I’ll be out in a minute, Fred!” He called back, knowing it was Toy Freddy who was looking for him. Mike looked towards Fredbear again. “Thank you, Fredbear. I mean...thank you, a lot. It...it means - it means everything. To hear you say all of that.”

“It’s not just empty words, Michael,” Fredbear told him, “I meant everything.”

“I...yeah,” Mike said, managing to smile just slightly at the animatronic, “thank you. Uhm. I should go out there, before they get too concerned.” He paused, studying the golden bear for a long minute. Fredbear was intimidating - he was big, and the bloodstain on his front was a stark reminder of dark times. Even after the pep talk, Jeremy weighed heavily on Mike’s mind, and every glance at Fredbear made it all that much more fresh. Even still, the animatronic was clearly friendly - despite his own role in the tragedy. And if that were the case, he didn’t deserve to continue his isolation, no matter Mike’s feelings about him. And so, Mike cleared his throat. “Fredbear? Did you want to come out with me?” 

“Michael, I think I would like that very much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've given me a prompt, rest assured it is in progress! But this one hit me like a truck and I needed to get it down. There are plenty more to come!


	11. Prompt 11: Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very familiar scenario plays out in front of Mike's eyes. But he's an adult, now, and has the ability to change the course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Magainita for the idea for this prompt!

There was a heavy stillness that swept through the restaurant. The cries of fear hadn't been loud enough for most of the patrons to hear. Mike heard them, however. More importantly, so did the animatronics. There weren't any shows going on currently, but Mike could feel their tension as thickly as if they'd physically reacted. A child had cried in fear, the sound coming from the reading corner, and if Mike didn't fix the problem immediately, the animatronics would step in to do it themselves. 

Mike took off like a shot, slipping past customers as he made his way for Spring's corner. As he went, he held up a hand in the direction of the stage, asking for and hoping the animatronics would grant the chance for him to figure out what was going on. As he rounded the corner into the little nook of a room, he froze, his stomach diving into his feet. 

It was a horrendously familiar sight. Less children, maybe, but familiar all the same. Two kids - probably in their early teens - were laughing and jeering as they tried to drag another much younger boy closer to Spring Bonnie, who was standing on his little stage. They had the boy by the arms and were moving him bit by bit, even though he had his feet dug into the ground. The little boy was crying hysterically, clearly terrified out of his mind. Spring Bonnie was watching with a look of equal terror, his ears straight up on his head. As soon as Mike appeared, Spring Bonnie looked at him and the human could see the desperate plea in his eyes. It slammed Mike back into his senses. 

"Hey!" He commanded sharply, all three of the kids jumping violently at the noise. Immediately, the two preteens dropped the younger child and turned, staring at Mike with wide eyes. The smaller boy curled up where he was, hiding his head in his arms. Mike moved towards them, and even he could feel his own anger radiating off of him. "What do you two think you're doing?" 

"We…We were just playing!" One of them said, "we thought Alex might like to see Spring Bonnie up close! He's, uh, he's Alex's favorite!" 

"Yeah!" The other chimed in, "we were, uh, just trying to cheer him up! Yeah!" 

"Don't lie to me," Mike said, trying his damndest not to explode any further, trying to remember that they were young, stupid, and  _ customers _ , "he's terrified - obviously! This your kid brother?" The two tweens looked at each other, and then one of them raised his hand hesitantly. 

"You are a pathetic excuse for a brother," Mike snapped at him, "and you should be ashamed of yourself. This kid probably looks up to you, and you thank him by  _ torturing  _ him. Get the hell out of here!" Both of the tweens grimaced, then scattered and took off like a shot. Mike took a few, bracing breaths as they ran past him, trying to rein in the anger. Looking to the little boy - Alex - helped, because it was difficult to stay angry in the face of such terror. 

"Alex?" Mike asked, moving slightly closer and crouching down, "Hey bud, can you look at me? It's alright, I promise you're safe." After a long pause, the boy uncurled slightly and looked towards Mike with tear-stricken eyes. Mike noticed that he very pointedly didn't look anywhere near Spring Bonnie. "Hey there. I'm Mike. It's nice to meet you!" 

"H-hi," Alex said, sniffling heavily, "thank - thank you for making them stop. They always tease me…"

"Because you're afraid of the animatronics?" Mike asked gently, not at all surprised when Alex nodded with another sniff. "Well, sometimes people are. Can you tell me why, though? What makes them so scary?" 

"It's cause Timmy told me they eat kids!" Alex exclaimed, "He said - he told me, they wait til there's a kid all alone and then gobble 'em up! And I don't wanna be gobbled up!" 

"Timmy told you that, huh?" Mike asked, wondering if Timmy was the brother or someone else entirely, "well, that was kind of mean of him. Because guess what? The animatronics don't eat kids. They only eat…actually. Can I tell you a secret, Alex?" Uncertain again, the little boy nodded. "The animatronics don't eat at all! Not even pizza! Though I know sometimes they wished they could. But they're robots, so eating things would mess up their insides. So they can't eat pizza, or candy, and they definitely can't eat little kids!" 

"It's true," Spring Bonnie cut in suddenly. Alex cried out in alarm and shot towards Mike, who let out a soft 'oof' when the child clung on to him. Carefully, Mike peeled the boy's hands away. He looked towards Spring Bonnie, only to find that the animatronic had crouched down as well. Given his height and the fact that he was still on his stage, he still appeared quite tall. But, over all, the effect made him slightly less intimidating. 

"It's okay," Mike tried to soothe, "I promise. This is Spring Bonnie. He's a very friendly bunny, you know. Can you look at him, Alex? I'm right here - I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Slowly, carefully, the little boy looked over until he was looking up at Spring Bonnie. He continued to shake lightly, still terrified, but it was a start. 

"Hi Alex," Spring Bonnie said, his voice gentle and soft, "my name's Spring Bonnie. And I'm real glad to meet you."

"No!" Alex cried in alarm, all at once bursting into tears again, "please don't eat me!" 

"No, no," Spring Bonnie said, "oh, please don't cry. I don't want to eat you! Like Mike said, I couldn't anyway - but I don't want to. I just want to be your friend, Alex."

"F-friend?" Alex asked, letting out a particularly loud sniffle, "but…but, Timmy said…"

"I think Timmy was just teasing you," Spring Bonnie said, "sometimes other people tease, and it can make you feel awful. But I promise what he said wasn't true." Spring Bonnie tilted his head slightly, studying the little boy when he realized Alex wasn't quite at ease yet. "Do you like to read, Alex?" After a second, Alex nodded. 

"But I'm not very good, yet…" Alex said. 

"That's okay!" Spring Bonnie said, "guess what? I can't read at all."

"Really?" Alex asked, eyes widening slightly. Mike knew it wasn't actually true, but it was something Spring Bonnie often told the youngest readers. It usually helped make them less self-conscious about their own skills. 

"Really," Spring Bonnie agreed, "and there's this book I've been really interested in. But I need someone to read it to me. What do you think, Alex? Think you could do that?" Although he still looked uncertain, Alex pulled back a bit, glancing towards Mike. 

“It’s okay to say no,” Mike said, “if you want. Spring Bonnie will understand - but also, if you want to read to him, I’ll stay right here while you do. It’s up to you, kiddo.” Alex took a quick and shaky breath before looking towards Spring Bonnie again. 

“Um, what book do you wanna read?” Alex asked, his voice quiet. 

“Let me grab it,” Spring Bonnie said cheerfully, “I have to stand up though, okay? I’m just getting the book, so don’t be afraid!” He gave Alex a chance to nod before standing. Mike saw the boy tense, but he didn’t run, and he didn’t look away from Spring Bonnie. The rabbit headed for his bookshelf and quickly grabbed a book off of it. Then, he came back to the edge of the stage and crouched back down, holding the book out to Alex. The little boy stared at it with wide eyes, so Mike reached his own hand out. 

“We’ll take it together,” he said, and after a second Alex reached out too. Mike let the boy grab the book, but kept his own hand close. Spring Bonnie, meanwhile, held very still while Alex took the offered book. And if Alex snatched his hand back as soon as he had the book in his hold, well, Spring Bonnie didn’t mention it.

“‘Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom?” Alex read out slowly, “that’s a funny title.” 

“It is,” Spring Bonnie agreed, holding his hand in front of his mouth as he giggled softly, “I didn’t know - I just like the colors. It sounds like a fun book, though.” And it was. Slowly, haltingly, Alex opened the book and began to read. But even he couldn't resist the funny rhymes and pictures, and as he read further he relaxed more and more. By the time he finished the book, he was giggling. At some point, he'd even moved to sit on the edge of the stage, so he could show Spring Bonnie the pictures. Once the book was finished, he'd completely relaxed, and even held the book out to Spring Bonnie of his own accord. 

"Alex!" A woman's voice broke through the moment, "come on kiddo, time to head home!" 

"Oh! I gotta go," Alex said, slipping off the stage. He turned in place and looked up at the animatronic. Mike could see Alex was still nervous, but he wasn't trembling any longer. He took a deep breath. "Uhm, Spring Bonnie…can I come back and read with you again?" He asked. 

"Of course, I'd love that!" Spring Bonnie agreed, "you're always welcome, Alex."

"Thanks! Um, and thanks, Mike." Alex said. 

"You're welcome. And, hey, make sure and tell your parents what happened, okay? Your brother shouldn't be allowed to pick on you like that," Mike said. Alex frowned at that, but nodded after a second. 

"Kay. Uhm…Bye!" He waved at them both and took off, dashing out of the corner to find his mother. Mike and Spring Bonnie both watched him go. Once he was out of sight, Spring Bonnie laid a hand on Mike's shoulder. 

"Thanks, Mike. Hopefully he'll have an easier time now, thanks to you."

"And hopefully it scared those other two enough to change their tune, before it's too late," Mike said, "keep an eye out for him if he comes back, would you buddy? I don't think any of you could malfunction like that but…"

"I'll keep watch," Spring Bonnie agreed, "if they'd gotten much closer, I would have stopped them today. Things aren't like they used to be, Mike. Try not to worry." He paused, then chuckled slightly. "Maybe worry, instead, about what happens if they tell their parents about the scary man that yelled and swore at them."

Mike blinked, then laughed nervously. He hadn't really thought about it, but now that he did, it went a long way to easing back the harder memories. Likely Spring Bonnie's intent. "Yeah," Mike agreed, "I better go make sure there isn't any damage control to do."

"Good luck, Mike."


	12. Prompt 12: Serving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate timeline, Fritz gets to Mike too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised, this chapter carries the following content warnings: Gore, Character death, Suicidal ideation, body horror, and suicide. Please read with care, or skip if these are triggers for you. ♥
> 
> This is an alternate timeline starting from Chapter 11 of Family Circus.

“Elizabeth, please. I’m not lying. I have -”

“Enough,” and there was the calm, cool voice of Baby again, “that’s enough. It will only hurt for a moment, and then all will be well. You'll see.” Mike saw her form step back from the window, and then the air filled with the blaring sound of an alarm, and the red hue of a warning light. Mike remembered what Fritz had told him of the scooper - the way it'd struck Ballora so hard that she'd fallen apart. His mind helpfully filled in the images of a human under the same treatment. It teased him with his own demise. Panic filled Mike entirely, but with no chance of escape, and very little opportunity for movement, there was nothing Mike could do but try and brace himself. Prepare for something he had no idea how to prepare for. He closed his eyes tightly and held his breath, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. 

The blaring stopped, for only a second, and then there was the horrid sound of a violent crash. Mike had experienced plenty of pain in his life - his bones being crushed, the bite, being strangled - but there was nothing like that second of pain. It was blinding, excruciating, and all-encompassing. It was hot and sharp and dull all at once, and it devoured him so entirely that he couldn't even manage to scream. 

But it was short lived, and by the time Mike hit the ground, he was completely unconscious. 

* * *

"Mike? Mike! Oh my God -  _ oh my god. _ " 

"STAND BACK FRITZ SMITH, THEY MAY BE DANGEROUS -" 

" _ Dangerous?  _ He's dead! They've killed him - no, no, no. Oh  _ Mike." _

"'m not dead," Mike tried to say, but even the action of speaking made his throat explode into pain. So instead of getting the words out, he groaned, and tried to move, but could only cry out more when that hurt, too. 

"Mike?!" Fritz sounded alarmed. Mike tried to open his eyes - and finally, after a long second, he managed it. But the world was weird and wrong - distorted and overlaid with a soft violet hue. Fritz was crouched next to him, and Mike could tell the other man was worried, but it was difficult to make much else out beyond the blur. 

"What…what the actual  _ fuck,"  _ Fritz said, and to Mike's surprise, the other man recoiled away from him. "You…you're dead. You have to be - there's so much - people don't survive wounds like this!" 

"HE IS NOT JUST PEOPLE, ANY LONGER," Mike grimaced at the sound of the loud, booming voice. He shifted slightly to look, making out the white and purple colors of another animatronic. 

_ Funtime Freddy,  _ some part of him offered helpfully. 

"What…what do you mean?" Fritz asked. 

"He means, Michael is no longer alone. We are here, with him." The new voice was soft-spoken, but so  _ loud.  _ It was as if it were speaking not  _ to  _ Mike, but  _ into  _ him. Mike grimaced at the sound and tried to curl into himself, but every movement brought only further agony. "Hush now, Michael," the voice continued soothingly, "the pain will ease. Be still for the moment. All is well."

"I - I don't understand," Fritz said, and he sounded as if he were on the verge of crying, "what's going on? What is - E-Ennard? Is that you?" 

"Yes, it is us," Elizabeth - Ennard, no, Baby? Mike's thoughts looped around themselves as he tried to put a name to the thing inside of him.  _ Inside of him.  _ As he thought it, he realized it were true. Somehow, Elizabeth had done what she'd set out to do - the endoskeleton creature was  _ inside  _ of Mike. And despite what the scooper  _ must  _ have done, Mike really was alive. In some capacity, anyway. 

"You…you killed him. You killed him and you're stealing his body," Fritz stammered, scooting further away from Mike. "F-Freddy, help me -" Funtime Freddy moved forward at once and helped pick Fritz up, setting the other man on his feet. Then, Funtime Freddy gently pushed Fritz back, until he were secured behind Freddy's bulk. 

"IT IS OKAY, FRITZ SMITH!" Funtime Freddy boomed, "I WILL NOT LET YOU GET HURT. YOU ARE SAFE."

"Michael is not dead," Ennard said enthusiastically. Suddenly, Mike felt his body moving of its own accord, shifting until it was standing up straight. Somehow, it didn't hurt so badly that time. "Michael?" They wanted him to speak. Mike shuddered as he tried. 

"F-Fritz," He said and, well, the word actually managed to make it out of him, even if it did feel as if he were talking around a throat of sharp nails. "I - I'm here. Somehow, I -" Mike cut off with a groan, the pain in his throat too much to bare. 

"He is recovering," Ennard cut in smoothly, "he is still weak, but his body will repair many of its wounds. Give him time."

But Fritz didn't want to. Even in his broken down, half delusional state, Mike could see it. Fritz was terrified, petrified - faced with an idea of human immortality he didn't even know existed. He wanted to run. 

Mike wanted him to run. 

"Go, F-Fritz," Mike managed to croak out, grimacing at the ache, "g-go home."

"Mike? No, no - I - I can't. I won't. Not without you." And Fritz, to Mike's swell of sorrowful joy, stepped around Funtime Freddy. He tried to move towards Mike, but Mike watched the other man falter, the terror heavy on his face. 

"S-stop," Mike told him, "please, Fritz. Please go…go home. Fritz. T-take care of them?" 

Fritz stated at Mike. Mike stared at Fritz. They stared at each other for a long, long time. And as they did, Mike saw Fritz's eyes build with tears and the tension build in his body until, finally, he turned and ran. And as he ran, Mike fell into himself, held up only by the metal skeleton inside of him. 

* * *

Mike took Ennard home. It was easier, now, to think of the animatronic as 'Ennard.' Even knowing she was there, and responsible, some part of Mike didn't want to think Elizabeth capable of something like this. And so he separated her from the animatronic and did his best to ignore that she had ever been there. Ennard didn't seem to much care, one way or another - they were just glad to be out. So, Mike took Ennard home. Or, Ennard took Mike home. It was difficult to call it one or the other when, more often than not, Mike wasn't even in control of his own body. 

Time passed. In some ways, Mike  _ did  _ heal - every movement was no longer agony, his voice was capable of speech again. But in other ways, he only got worse. He had, he found, very few innards left at all - which meant that whatever supernatural force was holding him together and keeping him alive was no match for human decay. Like something out of a bad piece of fiction, Mike became a robotic, sentient zombie - fully aware of the monstrosity of his existence and unable to do anything about it. 

He didn't return  _ home.  _ He couldn't imagine facing them like this - but he thought about them every day. He hoped Fritz was taking care of them. He hoped Fritz had told them that Mike was dead. He didn't want to inflict that agony on them, but better that than for them to know the truth. Without his family, without his friends, Mike began to wither away inside as sure as he did on the outside. 

Henry stopped by once, but Mike didn't speak to him. He refused to open the door, and begged Ennard to leave it be. After an hour or two of pointed waiting, Henry finally left, leaving behind a note asking Mike to call, please. Mike never did. 

In the early days, Ennard tried to keep Mike's spirit up. The animatronic took them outside often, rejoiced in the sunshine and fresh air, and tried to urge Mike to do the same. But as the human body rotted, people began to notice. And eventually, they were trapped inside. Only ever able to go out in the pitch black of night, and never very far from home. It began to drag on Ennard as surely as Mike, and the animatronic became surly. Angry. 

Eventually, they left. 

It was an experience nearly as excruciatingly awful as the first scoop. They expelled themselves from Mike's body through his throat, leaving him a crumpled, boneless heap with a gaping jaw wound. They left - escaped the house, escaped to the outside, didn't so much as look back at him. They left him. 

But they left him alive. He never doubted that, because he retained consciousness through it all. He willed himself to die - he laid there for a long time, not even trying to move, practically begging his spirit to move on. True to Ennard's word, though, Mike survived. It took some effort to learn how to pilot his now structureless body, but Mike supposed there was something supernatural at work there, too. Because eventually he managed it. He was slow and lurching, but he could walk. He could talk. He could even see. It was a miracle. 

Mike wished he were dead. 

He lived his new life, though. He didn't have to eat, so he didn't really have to leave his house. He could bathe, which was weird, but he hoped that it helped keep the worst of the smell away. With Ennard gone, surprisingly, Mike's decay slowed and, eventually, stopped. He never healed further, but he supposed it was some small mercy that he wouldn't eventually end up a detached, sentient head. 

One late night, someone knocked on the door. Mike didn't move from his normal position - on the couch, watching whatever was on late-night television. Or, at least, staring at it blankly as it played. He didn't know who would be bothering him so late at night, nor did he care. He could make a few guesses if he wanted to, but he didn't want to. He didn't much want to do anything anymore. 

They knocked again. And again. And then they rang his doorbell over and over. The persistence might have annoyed him once, but he didn't care. Because he didn't much care about anything, anymore. 

"Come on, Mike! We know you're in there!" 

Mike shifted, curled in on himself, grimaced at the flakes of dead skin that fell to the ground. It was Fritz - that was a surprise, if Mike were honest with himself. Not enough of one to get the man off of his couch, but a surprise nonetheless. 'We' Fritz had said - Henry must have come along as well. Probably pioneered the whole thing. 

"Mike, if you don't open this door and let us in, we're doing it ourselves," Fritz warned. Joke was on them, though, Mike had added  _ four  _ deadbolts to his door, not long after he and Ennard had returned home. 

A minute later, Mike found out that the joke was, in fact, on  _ him.  _ Because Fritz had not brought Henry along. And while a sheer metal door was enough to keep a six-foot-some rabbit animatronic out, a few deadbolts were nothing. In another life, Mike might have jumped to his feet in alarm at the horrible crash of his door being smashed in. But even though he was genuinely surprised, all he could manage was a slow and tedious rise to his feet. 

Bonnie stood in his doorway. Bonnie was in his house, in his doorway, and Fritz was standing just behind the rabbit. Fritz couldn't see well into the house and didn't see Mike at first, but Bonnie spotted him immediately. Bonnie stared at Mike, and Mike stared back, all at once feeling an overwhelming surge of multiple emotions - things he hadn't felt since those first two weeks at home. 

He would have cried then and there, if he could. But tears weren't a function his body could manage anymore. 

"B-Bonnie?" He croaked out, his voice forever too dry and rough. But it caught Fritz's attention, and the man finally saw Mike in all of his glory, illuminated by the television. Even in the darkness, Mike could see Fritz pale. He watched the other man move slightly behind Bonnie. Fritz was still afraid of him. More so now than ever, maybe. 

But Bonnie wasn't. Ignoring the other human, Bonnie took a few strides over to Mike. Mike looked up as the rabbit got closer, keeping his face in his sights. He watched as Bonnie crouched in front of him. Even after so long, Mike could feel the intensity in Bonnie's otherwise seemingly blank stare. Then, the rabbit reached out and carefully - so very carefully, as if trying to hold a fragile sheet of glass - Bonnie wrapped his arms around Mike. 

"Oh Mike," Bonnie said, "oh, my poor, poor Mike. Look at what they've done to you."

"Bonnie," Mike repeated, his throat choking with emotion he didn't even know he could feel anymore. He twitched, wanting to wrap his arms around what he could of the animatronic in return. But even the slight movement sent a scattering of dead skin to the ground and Mike grimaced. He couldn't do that to Bonnie's fur. 

"Please, Mike," Bonnie said, "A little bit of dead flesh isn't the worst thing that's ever gotten on this suit." And with his permission, Mike lifted his arms up and wrapped them as far as he could around Bonnie. 

And it felt good. 

In the hug blossomed a warmth that filled Mike's very being, that felt as if it touched his soul. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed  _ touch  _ until that moment. He was strongly reminded of just how much he'd missed  _ them  _ in that moment. The pain of missing his family coalesced into a warm pulse at the reunion. 

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie," Mike muttered desperately, pressing his face into the rabbit's fur. "Oh Bonnie. I've missed you so - so much."

"I've missed you too, more than I can say," Bonnie responded, "do you know how - it doesn't matter. Oh Mike. Why didn't you come home?" 

"Look at me," Mike said, "how could I? How could I face you all like this? I'm a -" 

"Don't you dare," Bonnie interrupted. He carefully peeled Mike away, still handling him softly, in order to look Mike in the face. "You're  _ Mike.  _ I don't give…I don't give two  _ shits  _ about what you look like."

"Bonnie -" Mike said, startled. He'd never heard any of the animatronics swear - but it was especially alarming coming from the usually strict bunny. 

"I don't! None of us do!" Bonnie continued on. "Mike, we have been devastated without you. We…we...oh Mike." He paused, his ears falling to the sides. "Mike. We should have come so much sooner. But we were…Fritz wasn't even sure if you were still alive. We wanted to respect your wishes. We were so afraid of finding out you were dead, after all. We were angry, and lost, and confused. And we waited. We waited so long and you've been here alone. Suffering. I'm so sorry, Mike. We don't deserve it, but can you ever forgive us?"

"Deserve…? Bon, there's nothing to forgive," Mike croaked, "you…I didn't want you to see me like this. I had hoped Fritz would tell you I was dead. I thought…it would be better. I - I had hoped to be, by now." 

And Bonnie didn't judge him for that. He didn't cry out in fear or anger. Instead, the look he gave Mike was somber. And, if Mike hadn't lost his touch, even a tad understanding. 

"It won't take?" Bonnie asked. Mike shook his head - slowly, carefully. 

"No. I wait. And I wait. And I beg. But I just keep surviving. Bonnie." Mike gripped the rabbit's arms in as tight of a hold he could manage. "Bonnie, I don't want to live like this." Bonnie tsk'd softly and lifted a hand, resting gently it alongside the side of Mike's face. 

"I wish I could tell you why you won't go, but I can't. Mike, I would fix this for you right now, if I could. But I can't promise you wouldn't continue to survive, and you might be left worse off than before. But we can ask Freddy. Maybe he'll have an idea. For now…you don't have to stay exactly like this. Come home with me, Mike. Come be with your family." Bonnie said. 

"I can't. I can't go anywhere, if anyone sees - the kids…"

"So we'll shut the Arcade down. Move you right now, while it's dark out. No one else will ever know."

"No!" Mike exclaimed, "Bonnie, you love the Arcade. You all do. I can't ask you to give all of that up, not for me."

"You don't have to ask. We'll do it in a heartbeat," Bonnie replied. "You're right - we love the kids, love the Arcade. But Mike? We love you so, so much more. You're the most important thing in the world to us. If you're there, nothing else matters."

"Bon -" 

"I mean it, and the others will say the exact same thing. Please Mike. I don't know if we can fix this, but we can make sure you're not alone." Bonnie paused and tilted his head, face shifting slightly into something approaching a smile. "If - if a zombie can't find a home with a bunch of reanimated robots, what's even the point?" 

"You…" Mike said, and then something bubbled up from inside of him. He clutched onto Bonnie as hysterical, desperate laughter escaped from inside of him. "Okay," He said through it, "Okay. Okay, okay, okay. I'll come home. Help me get home, Bonnie."

And so he did. Bonnie helped layer clothes onto Mike's form, helped bundle him up to hide him from the outside world during their journey. And then, Bonnie led him to the door. To Fritz. Who was still standing there, quiet and pale. Staring at Mike, who at least had a few layers on now. 

"Mike," Fritz said after a second, "I…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for everything." His breathing grew heavy as he continued, the words pouring out of him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for leaving you, I'm sorry for waiting so long, I'm sorry for leading you into that  _ fucking place  _ in the first place. I'm sorry this happened to you and not to me, I'm sorry -" 

"Fritz," Mike said, cutting through the other man's words. Fritz stopped dead, as if he'd been slapped. "It's okay," Mike continued, "it's alright. Fritz - I don't blame you at all. Not one bit. I never have, and I never well. This isn't your fault. I chose to follow you. And you reacted to everything in an understandable, sane, human way. I told you to leave - I wanted you to leave. And I don't blame you for not coming back. I…but. I am grateful to see you now. Thank you for coming. Thank you for bringing Bonnie."

"I...of course, Mike. Of course."

* * *

And so, Mike went home, zombie body and all. Just as Bonnie had said, the others were ecstatic to see him, and didn't seem to care one bit that he was supernaturally reanimated flesh. They knew enough to be gentle with him, even in their joy, but other than that, they were just happy to see him. It didn't matter that he'd been gone so long. Once he was with the animatronics, it was as if no time at all had passed. 

Of course, it didn't change everything. It didn't change the fact that Mike's life was a half-existence at best. It was nice to have the animatronics - and even Fritz and Henry - to talk to. It was nice not to be alone. It took some of the edge off, and allowed Mike to feel some tickling of normalcy again. 

But he quickly found that it didn't solve everything. Existence was still torturous. And so, while he spent time with his family and allowed time to pass, he still found himself seeking Freddy's insight. The bear didn't seem at all surprised she Mike came to him. 

"Do you have any ideas, Freddy?" Mike asked without preamble, and he didn't need to explain any further. 

"I have one. I have never understood even how we worked, entirely, so you must understand I cannot guarantee anything. But if anything is to work, I think it most likely to be fire."

"Fire." Mike said in awe. He'd never thought of fire. 

"Yes." Freddy answered, then paused. "I will look into the best options. Mike…you just tell us when."

* * *

Mike held on for about a month longer. Knowing that an option might exist gave him the boost he needed to truly enjoy some time with his family. Despite the fact that they all knew what was to come, it didn't seem to weigh anyone down anymore. Ever since Bonnie brought him home, Mike had lived at the Arcade 24/6. And so, try as he might to hide it, the others no doubt saw how his half-existence tormented him. Perhaps they felt as much relief for him as he did. 

Or, as Mike found out, it was a relief of their own. They felt no sorrow for what would come, because they had no intention of letting him go alone. 

"What - what do you mean?" Mike asked when they said as much, looking to each of them in turn, "that's…no. I can't let you do that. If that's the plan, then I'm out. It's not worth it if it means you guys throw your lives away, too."

"What lives, lad?" Foxy asked, "Ye just don't get it still, do ye? The kiddos, they be a way to pass the time, to experience some joy. But the only reason we got to stick around at all is ye, Mikey. If ye ain't here, it ain't hardly worth it."

"It's your life," Chica added, "if you aren't ready, that's okay too. But don't stay back for us - you don't have to. We're ready to be done, if you are. We truly are, Mike."

"The truth is, we have been tired for a long time," Freddy rumbled, "not tired enough, because there was always you. Who else would look out for you, if not us? Who else would show us so much love, if not you? But now, you are tired too." 

"We left you alone for too long already - we're never leaving your side again, Mike," Bonnie added. 

"We can't live on without you, buddy," Spring Bonnie said, "so please, don't ask us to."

Mike turned slowly in place, looking at each and every one of them. When  _ had  _ they grown so tired, he wondered. When had their brows grown so heavy, when had their fur dulled? He had always been so sure to take care of them, how had they slowed down so much, in only a couple months' time? And how, how exactly had he missed it, up until that very moment? 

"Okay," Mike said, "if you're sure, then, I'd be honored to have you all with me. We'll do it, together."

"Together," the animatronics echoed. 

And so, they did. Mike kept Fritz and Henry out of the plan, because it was beyond the humans' understanding. Henry might understand a bit better, but Mike didn't want to risk Fritz trying to stop them. He felt a bit bad for keeping it from the other man, but he hoped in time Fritz would come to forgive him. He hoped Henry would help the other man, just as much as he'd ever helped Mike. 

It was a cold, winter evening. There'd been a fresh and heavy snowfall, which muffled the sounds from the outside, and made inside feel even cozier. Together, Mike and the Animatronics had gathered a number of flammable materials and had bundled them around the main stage. Things that were sure to catch quickly and make sure the fire burned hot. 

With a touch of finality, Mike lit some of the fabric with a match and then stepped onto the stage. He sat in the middle of the animatronics, who were all sitting together in one big bundle. As soon as he was in place, they came together and wrapped their arms around each other, becoming one giant hug, with Mike nestled in their core. 

As the fire sparked and grew around them, none of them said a word. They didn't have to. Everything left worth saying could be conveyed with the ironclad grip they had on each other. Mike closed his eyes, and he waited. He expected pain, and there was a little, but it was brief. The tether holding him back was weak, and once the fire had burned through the animatronics and made it to him, it snapped with ease. And as his rotted cage burned away, so did Mike's thoughts. His last thoughts were of family, and then he knew nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember, you are never alone. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or ideations, please reach out to someone who can help you. Some resources:
> 
> US National Helpline: 1-800-273-8255  
> Crisis Text Hotline: https://www.crisistextline.org/  
> International Association for Suicide Prevention: https://www.iasp.info/


	13. Prompt 13: Toys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five year old Michael Afton is left trapped and alone at Fredbear's as night falls. Luckily, no one is ever really alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluff redemption chapter. It's AU-ish, given it couldn't really happen in the correct timeline for Family, but only just.

Michael Afton was only five years old, and he'd never been so scared in his short little life. The sounds of laughter and discussion had stopped a long time ago, and not quite as long ago, all the lights had shut off. Yet still, no one came for him. He was alone - trapped in the small room with nothing but empty heads surrounding him. Empty, scary heads - some with eyes, some without - all of which seemed to be looking at him. He sobbed, an exhausted arm hitting a small, bruised fist against the metal door. But nobody could hear him - it seemed that there wasn't anyone left  _ to  _ hear him. 

"P-please," He whimpered, pressing his forehead against the door, "please let me out." He slid to his behind, sitting on the ground, trying so hard to ignore the horrible stares of the empty heads. "DADDY!" He suddenly screamed, the word ending in a wail - the kind of scream only a kid can make, when so overwhelmed with fear that there's no other way to get it out. His sobs broke into loud wails, and he beat his ankles against the ground. He wanted out, he wanted his daddy, he wanted it to not be dark anymore, wanted the scary heads to look away. To go away! 

He was so caught up in his terror-filled cries that he didn't hear the footsteps, or hear the door slide open. But then, suddenly, hands were grabbing him - big, strong hands, much bigger than his own body. Mike opened his eyes, blinking to clear the tears - then promptly let out another terrified wail at the sight waiting for him. Big, surprised green eyes stared at him from a golden-yellow face topped with long, rabbit ears. Spring Bonnie. Spring Bonnie had him now, and he was going to eat Mike right up! 

"Hey, hey, no, it's okay," a gentle voice said, as the hands began to pivot softly up and down, making small bouncing motions. "You're okay, buddy, it's okay. Aw, little tyke, what's the matter? Did you get left behind?" Mike continued to sob in terror, prompting the rabbit to tuck the small boy up against his shoulder, holding him close. "Shh, shh, it's alright. You're just fine now. Shh." Spring Bonnie stood there, continuing to bounce the boy slightly, until finally Mike's sobs began to subside. 

Mike didn't understand. His daddy had always told him to be very careful around the animatronics and Mike had always known that if they ever got him alone, the animatronics would eat him. Just like he'd seen them eat that man when he was even littler. His daddy said that hadn't happened, but Mike knew he was wrong. He'd seen it! But Spring Bonnie didn't seem to want to eat him. It felt good, actually, to be held by the big rabbit. His fur was soft and his hold was gentle. Mike sniffed, lifting a hand to rub at his face, grimacing at the snot that came along with it. 

"There you go," Spring Bonnie said, "see? It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you, buddy. How on earth did you end up in here?" 

"'splorin," Mike said with another sniff, "the door closed, 'n I couldn't open it."

"Ah, and I'll bet that was pretty scary, wasn't it?" Spring Bonnie said, "I think I'd have been scared too. Your parents didn't come looking for you?" At that, Mike shook his head. "Well," the rabbit continued, "it sure gets busy around here - I'm sure they're frantic, now. Someone will come for you before you know it. But for now, you're safe. Hey," as he spoke, Spring Bonnie began to move, leaving the small parts and services room, "what's your name?" 

"Michael."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Michael. You like toys, Michael?" Spring Bonnie asked as they walked towards the main dining room. Mike nodded, turning slightly in the rabbit's hold to watch where they were going. He felt himself light up as they walked over to the prize corner. "Tell you what, you can pick out one thing. Just for you, for no tokens. How's that sound?" 

"Just for me?" Mike asked, staring at the prize counter in awe. 

"Just for you," Spring Bonnie agreed. Maybe, Mike thought, the giant rabbit wasn't so scary after all. Actually, he seemed very nice. And he was letting Mike have a free toy! His daddy  _ never  _ let him have free toys from Fredbear's. "You just tell me what one you want, and it's yours." 

Mike bit his lip and looked around the prize counter. There were all sorts of toys and shiny options - plush Fredbears and Spring Bonnies, plastic phones and caterpillars, and more candy and chips than Mike could count. Not that he could count very high. Mike peered at Spring Bonnie again, and the rabbit looked back at him and smiled. 

"Take your time," Spring Bonnie said, "you have to make sure you pick the right one." Mike nodded and looked back to the prizes again. 

"That one," Mike said, pointing to a plush Spring Bonnie that was sitting alone, up on one of the highest shelves. There was a soft whirl from the animatronic, and when Mike looked at Spring Bonnie again, the rabbit's ears were pointing straight up on his head. 

"That one? Are you sure?" Spring Bonnie asked. Mike nodded. "Well, okay then! That one's pretty high up there, I think you're gonna have to help me with it. That sound like something you can do?" 

"Yeah!" 

"Alright, hold on tight Michael." Spring Bonnie picked the boy up under his arms and shifted him until Mike was sitting on the rabbit's shoulders. Mike giggled and grabbed onto Spring Bonnie's ears to stabilize himself. Spring Bonnie made sure the child was secure, then headed behind the counter of the prize corner and over to the shelf. He reached behind him and lifted Mike again, holding the boy up so he could grab the plush Spring Bonnie. Mike pulled it down and hugged it close, beaming when Spring Bonnie placed him back into a secure hold. 

"There we are. Feeling better, tyke?" Spring Bonnie asked. 

"Yeah!" Mike exclaimed, snuggling the plush toy close, "lots better!" 

"I'm glad," Spring Bonnie said quietly. 

"Michael!" A voice suddenly cut through the quiet of the restaurant. Both boy and animatronic froze in place, the rabbit's ears turning slightly towards the front doors. 

"It's my daddy," Mike said in a staged whisper. 

"I thought it might be," Spring Bonnie said as he carefully lowered the boy to the floor. "Hey, Michael? You take good care of that plush, okay?" 

"Kay," Mike said, clutching it close. Spring Bonnie crouched in front of the child, then reached out and gently booped his nose. 

"And maybe don't tell your dad I was talking and walking around, okay? Call it our little secret."

"Our secret," Mike agreed, "I won't tell." He looked over towards the entrance, then beamed at Spring Bonnie. "Thanks, Spring!" He said cheerfully, before turning and taking off for the entrance. "Daddy! I'm here!" 

Spring Bonnie watched Michael go, then turned and carefully made his way for the stage. As he settled into place, he could just see the door to the restaurant close again as Michael left with his father. Spring Bonnie allowed his eyes to fall shut, and he let himself bask in the warmth that the little boy's smile had left.


	14. Prompt 14: Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry grieves - and then he learns something that shatters his world further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Sammywolfgirl for the inspiration for this chapter!

Henry sat on a wooden bench, empty and alone. It was the middle of winter, the snow was up to his calves and his feet - covered only by tennis shoes - had long grown numb from it. He was wearing a jacket of some kind, but it wasn't near enough to keep him warm. Once upon a time - only a few weeks past even - someone would have told him off. His wife would have insisted he dress better. His daughter would have assured it - he had to be a good role model, after all. 

But there was no one left to tell him now. No one left to make sure he made good choices. His wife was gone - the grief had driven her away and though they were still married, Henry had no doubts that there was divorce in their future. And his daughter…

Charlotte. 

Even thinking her name summoned a fresh and heavy wave of grief. The tears sprung unbidden to his eyes, and Henry leaned over, holding his face in his hands as his body shook with the force of his sobs. He couldn't bear the pain - it ripped him apart from the inside out, and he couldn't understand how his heart kept beating when it felt like it'd been pulled from his chest and crushed. It'd been three weeks, a day, and seven hours since they'd found her. His little girl - hardly six years old. She'd been missing for all of an hour by the time they tracked her down. 

An hour, and she was dead. Gone from the world, snuffed out forever. No traces of who was responsible, nothing but a knife with no fingerprints. She'd been taken. Murdered under his own nose. He'd failed her entirely, and she'd paid the heaviest price. Even the security puppet he'd designed for watching the children, who'd been keyed into Charlotte specifically, hadn't been enough to save her. But it had tried. Dammit, had it tried. He'd been amazed to see it curled up next to his daughter, destroyed by the rain that had seeped into its fragile robotics. It had tried. 

Henry brought his head up quickly when he felt a sudden shift of the bench beneath him, and the weight of someone next to him. He did a double take when he looked - he hadn't seen the man next to him in a few months now, ever since the horrible incident with the youngest Afton child and Fredbear. William looked as poorly as Henry felt, and Henry supposed it only made sense. It was, apparently, what the loss of a child did to a person. As long as Henry had known him, William had always been overweight. But in the last few months the man had dropped most of it - the dark-eyed figure next to him now was easily half the man he used to be, maybe less. His hair hung long and unwashed, and his clothes were ruffled - it was unusual to be sure, because despite it all, William Afton had always prided himself on a clean and proper appearance. 

"Will?" Henry asked, lifting his head a bit more, "what are…what are you doing here?" 

"Oh, I happened to be driving by," William said, "and I noticed someone over here. When I realized it was  _ you,  _ I thought I ought to come and offer my sincere condolences. For your loss."

Henry felt that grief wash over him again, and he ground his teeth together and looked forward in an attempt to hold it together. He couldn't, though, when William laid a soft hand on his shoulder. 

"Oh, old friend. You don't have to pretend for me. Come now, let it all out. I know just how horrible it feels, losing a child. I would never judge you for your sorrow," William said. And the floodgates opened again. But instead of burrowing his face in his hands, Henry found William's shoulder instead. Time had weathered the bond between them, and after Jeremy's accident, so had William's self-imposed distance. But the fact remained that they had been close, once. Almost like brothers, even. And although nothing could ease Henry's grief, there was something to be said about pouring that grief out onto the shoulder of a trusted friend. 

Eventually the tears wore themselves out, as they usually did. Henry didn't feel enough anymore to be able to feel embarrassment, but he still averted his eyes when he finally pulled away from William. William, however, simply hummed and stared forward until Henry had cleaned his face up a bit more. 

"Thank you," Henry muttered, "I'm sorry. I know you've suffered your own…but I appreciate your comfort, all the same."

"Yes, well, those of us who have lost should stick together, ey Henry?" William asked, looking at him. "Think nothing of it. I was happy to offer my shoulder. Old friend…" He paused, laid his hand on Henry's shoulder again, "You're going to catch your own death out here, dressed like this. Go home, Henry. Get warm. Little Charlie would not want you to treat yourself so poorly."

And he was right, wasn't he? Henry looked down at himself, at his numb feet and poorly dressed body. Self flagellation, so obvious even he could see it. He deserved as much - he deserved more - but his loving, forgiving little girl would never have stood for it. Part of him angrily retorted that she didn't want  _ anything  _ anymore. But a bigger part of him knew it didn't matter. This wasn't the place. This wasn't the time. Maybe later, but there were things to be doing. 

Villains to be catching. 

"Yes. I suppose you're right," Henry said, "I will - I will go home, soon. William? I - words cannot describe how sorry I am for what happened to Jeremy. I understand why it drove you away - I am largely responsible for Fredbear, after all. But thank you, more than anything, for reaching out now. Please…don't make yourself a stranger?" William's hand gripped his shoulder tighter. 

"I appreciate your sympathy," William muttered, after a long second, "go home, Henry. Fates willing, perhaps we will see each other again one day."

It sounded so final, and as William got to his feet and strode away, Henry watched him go. So, his oldest friend must have held Henry guilty to some degree, after all. Henry couldn't blame him - he had been so sure the animatronics were safe enough, and Fredbear had been a special project of his own. But Henry was careless. And as surely as it cost him Charlotte, it had cost William Jeremy. And even so, the other man had stopped for Henry. Had let Henry cry on his shoulder. Henry couldn't blame William for leaving again - but he hoped it wouldn't be goodbye forever. 

William was long gone when Henry finally did as he said he would. He got to his feet, grimacing at their pain, and made to leave the snow-covered park. As he turned to do so, however, something on the bench caught his eye. Something was half buried in the snow that'd been next to William's seat. Henry plucked the item from the snow and shook it off. 

He froze. Stared. A thousand thoughts went through his mind, but at the same time there were none at all. 

Henry was holding a bracelet. Not just any bracelet, though. It was emerald green and small - the perfect size for even the smallest child's wrist. Despite its simplistic exterior, Henry knew it was full of complicated wires and sensors. He had a bundle of them in his own workshop of all sorts of colors and sizes - but there had only ever been one green. It'd been Charlotte's favorite color, after all. She and her green wristband had been the first testers of the security puppet system. 

And the green band had been missing from her body when they found her. 

The truth rolled over him in a hot and painful wave. "William…" he whispered. Then, he grasped the wristband so tightly he felt it crunching beneath his fingers. A scream ripped up through his body, and he screamed for the man that had, only moments before, been his oldest and possibly only friend. The man who'd sat next to him, shared in his grief, offered his shoulder - while knowing every second that  _ he  _ was the reason for it all. Henry fell to his knees, his grief renewed all over again, mixing with the blinding fury that threatened to overcome him. 

"WILLIAM!" Henry screamed again, the name ripping from his throat and echoing on as it transformed into something full-throated and primal. But William was long gone, and though Henry didn't know it in that moment, he would never see the monster again. All Henry knew was pain - grief, betrayal, fury - all bundled into a feeling so world encompassing that all he could do was sit in the snow. And scream.


	15. Prompt 15: Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate reality, Jeremy Afton didn't die - but Mike was still told he had. So what happens when the younger brother finally tracks his big brother down?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Please note: This follows Runs in the Family's timeline, but is an AU in which Jeremy is alive. Mike didn't have a run in with the puppet in the first location. This takes place right after the second location closed, before William shows up and gets springlocked, hence Freddy's aggression)

Jeremy Afton couldn't sit still. There wasn't really anywhere for him to go, though, given he was sitting in his car in the middle of a dark parking lot. So he bounced his leg, fiddled with his hands, stared up at the tarnished building, and tried not to let his anxiety get the best of him. 

About two months prior, Jeremy had taken a job at the somewhat new Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria - a place that was a shadow of what it had once been, and filled to the brim with bloodthirsty animatronics. He hadn't stayed longer than three days, deciding, after one close call in which Fazbear himself had nearly ripped Jeremy's head off, that it wasn't the job for him. While there, though, he had learned of an incident that they referred to as 'The Bite of '87.' At first, he'd assumed that it was about his own accident - but that had happened in 83, and there were too many years between for it to have been a slip of the tongue. 

So, Jeremy had looked into it and found even more similarities. An eighteen year old employee had been involved in an accident involving one of the animatronics - an employee named Jeremy Fitzgerald. The employee had survived and, amazingly, had continued to thanks to a team of doctors and an experimental procedure or two. Then, the employee had promptly dropped from the limelight, apparently choosing not to pursue legal action (or, perhaps, settling outside of court). 

Jeremy was a common name, he knew that. But it started to feel more farfetched when he considered that this man had not only been named Jeremy, but had just so happened to work at Freddy Fazbear's - and had even suffered a catastrophic brain injury due to an animatronic. Well, okay, sure. No one was likely to do that on purpose, so maybe that part was just coincidence and due to Fazbear Entertainment's fucked up machines. But the whole story together just wouldn't let Jeremy go. 

Putting all of the pieces together had been excruciatingly difficult. There were employee records for Jeremy Fitzgerald, but that was the last of the man Jeremy had been able to find, given he couldn't just access random medical records. Fitzgerald wasn't in any phone books or directories or even on the internet. Since there hadn't been a court case, his name wasn't in any public court documents. For awhile, it'd seemed like a dead end - Jeremy Fitzgerald just didn't seem to exist. 

Which was what made Jeremy stop and think. Maybe that was because Fitzgerald  _ legitimately  _ didn't exist. Jeremy's father had once worked at that very same location under the guise of Dave Miller, after all. So what if someone else had taken a fake name to work there? Of course, originally that hadn't been much of a lead - a fake name was just a dead end. Until Jeremy sat and really thought about why someone would want to work under a pseudonym. William was obvious - a better alibi, given the monstrosities he would go on to commit. But why would someone else? At Fazbear's, no less, where people were unlikely to ask questions? 

To avoid family associations, maybe? 

He wasn't in the phone book. Jeremy had looked there first, of course, but hadn't let coming up empty discourage him for long. After all, Jeremy wasn't in the phone book either. Their family tended to prefer anonymity. So, Jeremy took out an ad in the local paper, and posted a similar ad to a website. He paid to keep the ads up for a few weeks, until he finally felt discouraged enough to stop. Maybe he'd been wrong. Too hopeful. It'd been a long shot from the start. 

And then, one evening, his phone rang. He answered it casually, expecting little more than spam. 

"Hello?" He'd asked, balancing the phone on his shoulder. 

"Uh, yeah, hi? Er, this is Michael Afton. I'm calling 'cause I saw your ad in the paper…?" Another voice answered, and Jeremy promptly dropped the phone. He scrambled to pick it up as it clacked against the wall, and fumbled it against his ear just in time to hear the man continue. "OK, weird, guess it was a joke after all -" 

"No, wait!" Jeremy exclaimed, "sorry, sorry, it was real. I just, I'm surprised you called. I'd pretty much assumed you wouldn't, at this point."

"Well," Michael said, "it was really weird. I saw it awhile ago, but wasn't really sure I wanted to know who would be on the other end. You're not who I was afraid of though, so…" A heartbeat passed. "So. Who are you?" 

"I -" Jeremy felt his throat constrict, and couldn't quite get the words out. It was so strange to hear his brother's voice again, after so long. Strange, and unnerving. The last time he'd seen Michael, the older kid was helping his group of friends shove Jeremy's head into Fredbear's mouth. And that had followed  _ years  _ of teasing and bullying. But now - he was an adult. Michael was an adult. And they were all they had left - Jeremy had to try. 

"Dude, I've gotta tell you, this is starting to freak me out," Michael said, sounding uncertain. 

"Sorry," Jeremy answered, "Er. My name is - it's Jeremy." He paused, the silence growing heavy, "It's - Mikey, it's me." the silence stretched on a for a long moment, while Jeremy's heartbeat pounded in his ears. 

"Is this a sick joke?" Michael finally asked. His voice was a low hiss, and full of so much anger and hostility that Jeremy literally pulled away from the phone. "I don't know who you are or who put you up to this, but you can go fuck yourself. And if it was my father, tell him I hope he fucking chokes."

"Don't hang up!" Jeremy exclaimed, "please! It's not a joke - it's really me! Mikey - Michael, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't try to find you before, but I swear -" 

"Hey jackass? My brother's dead. Yeah. I hope that makes you feel good about yourself. Go suck one." 

"Wai-" But Jeremy didn't have the word out before Michael hung up with an echoing slam. Jeremy pulled the phone away and looked at it, heart hammering wildly away. Michael thought he was dead? Why would he think that? Jeremy sat the phone back in its receiver. Well. Jeremy guessed it made sense - the last Michael knew, Jeremy had been on his deathbed. Maybe the other man had just assumed ever since that it was true. 

Well. Jeremy would just have to get through to him. 

So, he called the number back. He wasn't especially surprised when it rang and rang and rang some more. He called back two more times before deciding to give the other man a break. 

To Jeremy's surprise, Michael called  _ him  _ back the next day. Jeremy answered enthusiastically, even in the face of Michael's obvious discontent. 

"Can you prove it?" Michael demanded, "if you're so incessant about this, then you'd better be able to back up your claims."

"Of course I can," Jeremy said, "just tell me when and where - I'll meet you, I'll show you!" 

"Fine," Michael said, and there was an odd, almost sardonic tilt to his voice, "then I want you to meet me at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Let's say at ten pm? Tonight."

That...hadn't been what Jeremy was expecting at all. For one thing, he knew that the location had been shut for something like two weeks now. For another, who in their right mind would go to that place after hours? And three - it seemed a bit cruel, given their shared history with Fredbear's and all. For a moment, Jeremy felt his stomach drop - had his brother not changed at all? 

No, he realized after a second, that wasn't what it meant. Michael didn't believe him - he thought  _ Jeremy  _ was playing the cruel trick. Jeremy still wasn't sure why that made Michael suggest Fazbear's as a meet up point - but it made him confident that it wasn't an attempt to further bully someone who'd once been terrified of the animatronics. 

"Well?" Michael cut through Jeremy's thoughts. 

"Fazbear's?" Jeremy asked in return, "Uh, look, I don't know how much you know about the newer place but -" 

"I know everything about it," Michael interrupted, "and I know exactly what I'm asking. I'll be there at ten tonight. And if you want me to buy a word you're saying, so will you - but I'm not holding my breath. Hey, listen - if you're anyone but my brother and you show up, you won't make it out of the building alive. So, do yourself a favor, and stay the fuck away." And then, he hung up again. Jeremy stared at the phone for a long time, before deciding to play his brother's game. 

Freddy Fazbear's was, in fact, closed down. The front door was left alone, but all other exits seemed to be blocked and reinforced. It looked somehow rougher than it had when Jeremy worked there, which was saying a lot. Jeremy had noted the other car in the parking lot when he arrived, and he parked a short distance away from it. After some time of worrying and thinking, Jeremy finally slipped out of his car. He walked right up to the doors of the pizzeria, then paused. The door was slightly open, an invitation as ominous as the building itself. 

It occurred to him then that, in the course of trying to make Michael believe  _ him,  _ Jeremy hadn't thought to confirm the man he was talking to was even his brother in the first place. Probably best, in that case, not to enter the haunted Pizzeria. 

So of course, Jeremy did it anyway. He took a breath and pushed the door open. The inside was as dark as the outside, with not a light on in the place. So Jeremy stayed at the door, one hand on it and ready to turn and run as soon as anything spooked him. There was a heavy and ominous silence, interrupted only by the soft sound of water hitting the ground from a nearby leak. 

Suddenly, Jeremy was blinded by a light in his face. He stumbled back and tried to block his eyes as the sound of footsteps approached him. 

"So, you showed up anyway. Bold," A man said as the flashlight beam danced slightly in Jeremy's face. "Well? Come on then, let me see your face."

"Could you tone down the flashlight?" 

"Absolutely not, I want to make sure you're real visible."

Jeremy sighed and lowered his arm. He turned towards the light - he could only just make out a figure behind it - and squinted in it, doing his best to look anywhere but at the brightest part of the light. He held still and waited as his eyes watered from the beam. 

Then, suddenly, it lowered, pointing at the ground instead of at Jeremy. He blinked, trying to clear the dancing stars out of his eyes. He rubbed at them a bit to try and help it along, but jumped violently at the sudden clatter of noise as the flashlight hit the ground. 

"Jeremy?" The man before him asked. Jeremy blinked some more and tried to get a good look. As the lights in his eyes cleared, he could make the figure out a little better. He was slightly taller than Jeremy, with a similar mess of dark hair, although Jeremy's was more brunette than black, these days. While Jeremy had looked more like their father when he was younger, this man was a dead ringer for William as Jeremy had most recently seen him. 

There was no doubt that the man in front of him was his older brother, Michael. 

"Hi, Mikey," Jeremy said, giving the other man a slight grin. Michael made a quick move towards him, then froze, and even in the poor light of the fallen flashlight, Jeremy could see how wide his eyes were. How pale his face. 

"I don't understand," Michael said softly, "I thought...he said you were dead. I thought you were dead!" 

"Who?" Jeremy asked, surprised, "who said… _ father _ ?!" Michael nodded, and Jeremy felt his stomach roll with anger. It was bad enough their father had kicked Michael out, that Jeremy had waited so long to find his brother, but to know that all this time Michael had thought he was dead. 

That he'd killed Jeremy? 

"I didn't know," Jeremy said, "I didn't know he'd told you that. I'm sorry, Michael. I'm sorry I didn't -" 

"Stop," Michael said, staring at Jeremy, "stop it, why are you - Jeremy, why are you apologizing? I'm the one who -  _ I'm  _ sorry. For what I did, for what happened to you." He paused, then shook his head. "What  _ I  _ did to you. I…" He stopped again and grimaced, closing his eyes briefly as his shoulders fell. He looked at Jeremy again, and it was as if he'd aged in a second. "Jeremy? Why did you call me? Why did you find me?" 

"I worked here, a couple of months ago," Jeremy told him, "Uhm, while I was here I heard about the, uh, bite of '87 or whatever. I've been hunting down Jeremy Fitzgerald ever since and, well, it led me to you. But Michael, I really should have tried to find you years ago."

"Why?" Michael asked, "you don't owe me anything, Jeremy."

"It's not about owing!" Jeremy said, "it's about - you're my brother. You deserved better. And, you know, we're it now. It's just us."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, looking at him sharply, "what about dad? What about  _ Elizabeth _ ?" 

He didn't know, Jeremy realized. He didn't know  _ anything.  _ Jeremy wasn't sure why he had thought Michael would know, but he hadn't prepared himself to have to tell his brother about the rest of their family. He licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair. 

"Well, that's…okay. A few years -" 

"Stop," Michael interrupted him suddenly, going very still. 

"Mich -" 

"Shh," Mike interrupted again, quickly raising a hand. Jeremy listened to him that time and shut his mouth, watching his brother in concern. Mike held himself still, eyes drifting away slightly before suddenly snapping back to Jeremy. "Back up, now!" He suddenly snapped. 

"Wait, I'm not -" Jeremy tried to interject. 

" _ Move!"  _ Michael exclaimed, but before Jeremy could, the other man suddenly rushed him. Michael shoved Jeremy back out the door so hard that they both spilled to the ground. Jeremy grunted with the hit, feeling rocks biting into his elbows. He'd barely registered what had happened when Michael was scrambling to his feet and turning back to the door. He grabbed it and wrenched it closed - and a second later something hit it with such force that the metal bowed out towards the humans. Michael stumbled back from the door and watched it for a long minute. Jeremy could just make out the sound of something mechanical whirling and shuffling from the other side of the door, and then it went silent. 

"Are you alright?" Michael asked after a long minute. He turned to look at Jeremy, then held his hand out to the younger man. Swallowing hard, Jeremy took it - feeling a jolt at the first physical contact he'd had with his brother in years - and let Michael help him stand. 

"Stings a bit, but yeah," Jeremy said, "what the hell was that?" 

"That was Freddy," Michael said. Jeremy felt goosebumps shiver down his spine. Freddy had been that close to him? How close had he just come to serious injury? His eyes drifted towards the now-dented door. Close, apparently. 

"Why here?" Jeremy asked, "why did you want to meet here? This place is a nightmare." He paused. "Why were you skulking around in there? That was risky."

"For protection," Michael said, "I didn't know what to expect. Not you - I really didn't expect this."

" _ Protection? _ " Jeremy asked. 

"Protection," Michael agreed. He glanced at the door, then back to Jeremy. "The animatronics are my friends."

"That didn't seem like a friend!" 

"He wouldn't have hurt me," Michael argued, "but…I was on edge. You were a stranger to him. That's a bad mix. He's big, but he's surprisingly quiet when he wants to be. If I'd known he'd gotten that close, I would have gotten you out sooner. I'm sorry - I wouldn't have brought you here at all, if I'd believed for a second it was really you."

Michael looked down at his shoe and scuffed it against the ground. Now that the moment was over, Jeremy could see the other man's shoulders beginning to slip, the confidence the incident had provided him draining away. It was a strange reversal. Jeremy was far removed from his seven year old self - he could hardly remember a lot of the memories. He'd never forgotten the way his older brother had treated him, of course, or what it had led to. But the man in front of him was not the same fifteen year old bully. This Mike was older, more mature. He was wary, quieter. 

He was sad. 

He was - Jeremy realized it, suddenly. Michael was afraid of him. Not in terror, not the way someone might be afraid of, say, haunted animatronics. Which, Jeremy thought, Michael didn't seem afraid of at all, but that wasn't the conversation for the moment. But Michael was afraid of Jeremy's blame, his judgement, his anger. The Michael standing in front of Jeremy wouldn't even look at him, so sure Michael was that Jeremy had found him purely to reject him. And so, Jeremy did the only thing he could think to do. 

He crossed the distance between them and pulled Michael into a hug. As soon as he had his brother in his arms, Jeremy felt a fierce longing, and had to squeeze harder, hugging Michael as tightly as he could. For a second, Michael held very, very still. He didn't pull away, but Jeremy could feel how tense he was. Still afraid. Uncertain. And then, it left him in a rush. Michael grabbed Jeremy in return, embraced him just as tightly, and all but collapsed into the hug. He began to tremble violently, and Jeremy could hear the catching in his breathing. 

"I'm sorry, Jeremy," Michael repeated, the words catching on his tears, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Jeremy said, "I forgive you, Mikey. I forgive you for everything. And I'm sorry too." 

"It's okay," Michael said quietly, and Jeremy nodded. They stood there for a long few minutes, just holding each other, both relishing in the comfort of human, familial touch - something neither of them had felt in a long time. "Jeremy?" Michael asked after some time. The spell broken, they separated, though they didn't move far from each other. "Elizabeth? Dad?" Jeremy nodded, and let out a breath. 

"Brace yourself," Jeremy said, "and let's get in a car. It's a story…" 

They talked for hours, sitting in the front seats of Jeremy's car. Jeremy told Michael about Elizabeth - she'd died when she was five, in a violent accident his father had never clarified. About their father, who'd vanished entirely just a couple of years ago. As he spoke, he watched Michael grow sadder - he didn't cry again, but he spent a long time on the verge. Of course, so did Jeremy. 

Michael, in turn, spun Jeremy a tale he almost couldn't believe. How he'd gained the respect of the giant, withered Bonnie - how the rabbit had recognized him, even ten years later. How he'd bonded with the animatronics - 'he's my friend' hadn't been an exaggeration. Michael and the animatronics looked out for each other - they were friends. More like family, Michael had admitted. It'd hurt Jeremy - but only briefly. How could he blame his brother for finding a new family, when his first had abandoned him entirely? 

"Will you introduce me to them, sometime?" Jeremy asked, as the dawn rose on the horizon. Michael paused and looked at him, staring with wide eyes. After a long few seconds, he smiled. 

"Yeah," He said, "I'd love that."


	16. Prompt 16: Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> {Semi-spoilers for Family Hutch} In an alternate reality, Malhare isn't a malevolent force of evil. He is quite caustic, though - but as it turns out, he's not so awful to have around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although a (very, very) alternate version of the Ness and Malhare story, this one-shot does contain very vague spoilers for Hutch - mostly, just the sort of end result of Ness's experience with the game. If you don't want even a small spoiler, maybe skip this one for now!
> 
> Also, special thanks to both Sammy and Alex for this prompt idea

Vanessa Afton sat on the edge of her bed, staring down at the phone in her hands. Her phone - sort of. Although she wasn't sure if it was really  _ hers  _ anymore. It'd been a week now since the rabbit anomaly - he'd introduced himself as Malhare - had escaped from the virtual reality game. At first, it'd been a scare - he'd come out as part of  _ her _ , and it'd caused all sorts of nasty side effects like hallucinations, distorted vision, and headaches. But as it turned out, he hadn't been any more happy about that than she was, and had decided on an alternate course of existence. 

So now, he was part of her phone. 

It wasn't  _ all  _ that Malhare was. He could still materialize himself in a way that she could see him - while others couldn't - and he'd admitted that it was because he was still part of her. But with most of his consciousness or spirit or whatever in the phone, he wasn't leeching off of her life anymore. They weren't separate - but her side effects were minimal, down to just the occasional episode of distorted vision. 

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Malhare spoke up, startling Ness from her thoughts. As he spoke, the words popped up on the screen of her phone, too - essentially making him not unlike Siri or Google. Although admittedly far more advanced than either of those could ever hope to be. 

"Sorry," Ness said, "I was just thinking."

"More like spacing," Malhare retorted. He paused for a second. "You feeling alright? Not getting any new funky symptoms or anything, are you?" 

"No, I'm fine," Ness told him, reaching over to connect the charger to her phone and laying the phone on the nightstand. "No funny business, okay?" 

"I'm in your phone," was the dry retort, "what, exactly, do you expect me to do? Ring obnoxiously? Actually…"

"Don't you dare," Ness told him as she laid down, "it's already late, and I have to get up early. I'd like to remind you that you're the one who has to deal with me if I'm grumpy tomorrow." 

"Fair point. Fine, I'll behave. I guess."

"I'll take it," Ness said, tucking her blanket up around her neck and turning towards the wall. "Goodnight." 

"Night night, don't let the bedbugs bite," Malhare chimed. 

Ness managed to fall asleep for a short while - tired enough that at first it came easily. But some unspecified time later, after a nightmare she couldn't remember, she woke back up. She blinked, tried to push the nightmare away, and did her best to go back to sleep. 

But even though she couldn't remember it, the fear from the nightmare stuck with her. She started to imagine horrors in the dark shadows of her room, which snowballed into imagining noises in her apartment that probably meant it was being broken into, or that a demon was crawling along the floor, or maybe it meant she was about to have a heart attack and die in bed alone, leaving her body to be found eventually - probably by her poor father. 

Try as she might, Ness's sudden spurt of anxiety would not let her go back to sleep. She tried to hold herself still and just trick her body into going back, but it didn't work. Frustrated, she flopped over to her other side, flipped her pillow and tried to ignore the way a car's lights created dancing shadows through her window. 

"It's four thirty in the morning," Malhare said suddenly, causing Ness to jump. "Weren't you the one talking about how you needed to sleep?" 

"I'm trying," Ness grumbled back, "so hush up and let me."

"Well, it's obviously not working," Malhare bit back, "so, out with it. What's the problem?" 

"Nothing, just having trouble. It happens, I'm only human," Ness answered. 

"You can't lie to me, you know," Malhare told her, "I can feel your heartbeat, and it hasn't been calm since you woke back up. And so?" Ness didn't answer right away. Eventually, though, she sighed lightly. 

"I had a nightmare, and now everything's just sort of…scary," she admitted, "it's fine. It's dumb. It'll go away eventually."

"Yeah, and by then it'll be time to get up and you'll be extra grumpy," Malhare said, "what's so scary?" Ness didn't answer - the thought of saying any of it out loud made her feel childish. She was twenty-three years old - far too old to be whining about monsters under the bed. "C'mon," Malhare prodded after a minute, "promise it'll stay just between us. Bunny's honor."

"Monsters in the shadows," Ness muttered after a second, "someone breaking in. Mysteriously dying in my sleep. All of the above, and then some. I'm just anxious. I dunno." Malhare didn't respond for a bit, at first. But then Ness was surprised to see him materialize, sitting at the foot of her bed. He was watching her, cross-legged and with his hands on his knees. 

"You're healthy as a horse," Malhare said, "I told you the heartbeat thing, right? You're fine. And even if you weren't, you wouldn't actually die in your sleep - I'd wake you up way before that happened. So check that one off your list." He gestured with his hands, putting a finger down on one hand as if marking something off. "There aren't any monsters in your shadows. Closest thing to a monster you got here is me, and I'm in your phone. Also not interested in eating you or whatever, so you don't have to worry about that either." He pushed a second finger down. "And, sure, okay. Someone could always break in." He paused, and although his face didn't move, Ness swore he was grinning even wider. His eyes definitely grew more vibrantly purple. "But they wouldn't get far, with me around."

"You're a ghost virus thing only I can see," Ness pointed out. Malhare's responding chuckle was deep enough to raise goosebumps along her arms. 

"Believe me Vanessa, I'm plenty real enough to deal with something like that." 

Ness nodded, but didn't otherwise respond. The rabbit was right, she knew, and his points had helped to ease her anxiety somewhat. But it hadn't been shaken off entirely. He was watching her, and after a few seconds of silence, he tilted his head curiously. 

"Would you feel better if I stayed like this?" He asked, "I'll keep a close eye out, you can trust me on that." The truth was, Ness didn't much trust the rabbit in general - he had willingly taken over her phone, leaving her body mostly hers, and so far he'd proven to be a decent - if sarcastic and picky - companion. Despite that, she hadn't forgotten his origins, or the pain she'd gone through when he'd first escaped. And she couldn't shake the feeling that trusting a sentient virus ghost thing was probably not especially smart. 

Still. She couldn't deny that knowing someone was watching out for her was a comfort. It was a bit awkward to have him sitting at the end of her bed, maybe, but the physical reminder of his presence was soothing, in its own way. So, eventually, she nodded, afraid to say the words out loud in case he became derisive. But all Malhare did was shrug. 

"I can do that. Hanging out here, hanging out in the phone - doesn't make a difference to me. And, hey, I don't need to sleep! So, snuggle back in, close those eyes, and try and get some sleep Vanny. I'll keep watch - there's nothing that's going to slip past me." Considering the source, it was oddly heartwarming to hear. 

And, somehow, it worked. It still took Ness a bit of time to relax fully, and a little longer still to actually fall asleep. But even as she snuggled back into her covers, she could tell she  _ would  _ be able to go back to sleep. She tossed and turned a bit more, but eventually settled down, and felt herself start to drift off as Malhare began to hum very softly to himself. 

When Ness next woke up, it was to sunlight streaming through her blinds and directly into her face. For a second she languished in the light, rolling in bed and stretching with a long, satisfying reach. Then, she remembered that there shouldn't be  _ that _ much sunlight at her usual wake-up time of six-thirty am. With a start, she shot up in bed and grabbed her phone, looking down as '9:46' came up on the screen. Also on the screen were two vibrantly purple eyes, which blinked innocently at her. 

"I'm late!" She exclaimed, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed, "fuck! So late!" 

"Relax, relax," Malhare told her, "I took the liberty of calling you in sick today!" That stopped Ness in her tracks, and she looked at her phone incredulously. 

"You did  _ what? _ " She exclaimed, "you had no right -" 

"Oh, come off it," Malhare interrupted, "I did you a favor! You didn't sleep nearly enough last night, you needed more rest. I just made sure you got it." Ness let out a hard breath - when he put it like that, it came off as something  _ nice.  _ And she couldn't be angry at  _ nice.  _

"You should have asked first," she told him, "what if I already had enough penalty points, and that got me fired? What if I needed that PTO?" 

"You're always on time, so I know you don't have any penalty points," Malhare responded, "and you're a lot more likely to need that PTO if you actually get sick because you didn't get enough sleep. Look, they didn't even sound upset about it." He paused, then snorted softly. "You know, even with all that extra sleep, you're awfully grumpy this morning."

Ness sighed lightly and rubbed her face with a hand. Then, she sat back a bit and looked down at her phone again. 

"Sorry," she said, and she meant it, "look, just don't make a habit of doing that. Please? It's hard enough managing my social life without…assistance." 

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Malhare responded, "next time I'll ask." Well, Ness thought, it'd have to be good enough. The rabbit was a real force of nature - getting him to agree to much was difficult. Ness nodded. 

"Hey, Malhare?" She asked after a second. His response was a questioning hum. "Thanks. For last night, I mean. Um, I appreciate you watching out for me."

"Ugh, don't get sappy on me," Malhare said, "you're welcome, whatever, let's move on from the subject. Actually, let's just move on. I'm sick and tired of staring at the walls of your bedroom. Let's go do something with your day off!" Ness smiled, then laughed as she got to her feet. 

"Yeah okay, sure. Something you've got in mind?" She asked. 

"Arson?" Malhare asked excitedly. 

"No crimes," Ness shot down as she dug around in her dresser for clothes. 

"Buzzkill," Malhare retorted, "let's go to the park and hang out on the swingset, then."

"Now  _ that  _ sounds like a good idea."


	17. Prompt 17: Companion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, Malhare has been stuck as a plush rabbit for some time. When he finally finds a home with a little girl and her father, he discovers that even digital virus rabbits aren't immune to the love (or puppy eyes) of a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Ness & Malhare fluffy AU. This is what I do in between writing chapters dealing with a very not-fluffy Malhare.

Malhare had been alone for a very, very long time. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd come to _be_ \- he wasn't human, he wasn't entirely virus, and he wasn't entirely ghost. There were memories that poked at the very inside of his mind, memories of a human life once before, but they were far removed from him. He wasn't those memories, he wasn't even the human those memories belonged to. He was more of an echo, something born from the remnants of that human's soul, years ago. When he'd first come to be, he'd been part of a computer program. That had been a special hell, and he'd eventually managed to figure out a way to escape, but in the end had been tricked by those he roped in to help him. Instead of ending up inside a human - the preferred vessel - he'd ended up trapped inside of a plush rabbit. 

The irony of this was not lost on him, given his form had _always_ been that of a rabbit. 

The people who'd trapped him had intended to burn him, at first. But Malhare had managed to get through to _one_ of them before it was too late. Not enough to control their actions entirely, but he was able to convince them to get his plush body to safety. And they had. Although he'd ended up on a shelf in a second-hand goods shop. It must be, he had to assume, in an area in the middle of nowhere. The shop very rarely had patrons. Sure, a kid or two had picked him up once or twice, but they always seemed far more interested in the giant stuffed tigers or smaller stuffed cats and dogs. He wondered if he gave off some sort of aura that made people avoid him. 

It was a perfectly average, incredibly boring day when it finally happened. Malhare was hanging out on his shelf, staring out the window opposite him - as he did daily - when there was a sudden squeal of excitement very close to him. Malhare looked down, as much as he was able, and spotted a young girl peering up at his shelf. Big, brown eyes peered up at him, and she pointed at him with an excited grin. 

"Daddy, look!" She said, "it looks like Spring Bonnie!" After a second, a man came up to stand behind the little girl. Malhare looked up, meeting the eyes of an average human man - who tickled something in those pesky memories back in Malhare's mind. Malhare ignored that feeling - he could spend hours trying to force the memories forward and get nothing for his effort. They weren't even really his, anyway. 

"Huh, it does look like Spring, doesn't it?" The man asked. Malhare mentally huffed when he was suddenly picked up. The man turned him this way and that - which made Malhare dizzy, especially when he was turned completely upside down. "I think someone might have made this themselves, though," the man continued, "he doesn't quite look like our plushies, does he?" 

"Can I see?" The girl asked, and the man handed Malhare down to her without argument. She peered closely at the stuffed rabbit, but at least kept him level, which Malhare appreciated. "I like him anyway," she decided after a moment, "he's cute! Can I have him?" 

If Malhare had a more physical form, his ears would have perked at that. Had he finally found a way out of this hellhole of a store? The two humans seemed to get along well, surely the father wouldn't deny the girl this one treat? To Malhare's dismay, though, the man didn't respond right away. Instead, he took Malhare back from his daughter and studied the plush again. Malhare did his best to be perfectly still - he knew that his form could get a bit _unnatural_ if he got too angry or excited. 

"Okay," the man agreed, handing the plush back to his daughter, "but that's the only one today, okay? We can hardly see your bed as it is!" 

The little girl giggled and crushed the plush close to her, causing Malhare to grunt softly at the mistreatment. "Okay, deal!" She exclaimed. The man smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair lightly, before leading her away. They walked through the store for awhile more, the man picking out a few items for himself. Eventually, though, they left, and Malhare did his best not to hum with excitement. 

He was finally free. 

* * *

The little girl's name was Vanessa - though most of the people she saw on a daily basis just called her 'Ness.' And as it turned out, it was no accident that she'd been so drawn to him. Vanessa was basically heiress apparent to the entire Fazbear Entertainment company, and her father owned his own franchise. Which included, Malhare soon learned, actual sentient animatronics who treated the two humans like _family._ It seemed the world still held plenty of wonders, after all. Malhare didn't put much stock in the vague memories he carried, but he _knew_ Fazbear's. The company and its history were practically embedded into his code, after all. Could it really be a coincidence then, he wondered, that the child who'd finally freed him was connected to Fazbear's too? 

Vanessa didn't think about those things, so much. To her, the plush Malhare inhabited was her new best friend. She carried him everywhere - which was exceedingly wonderful, giving him a chance to see everything - and even snuggled with him in her sleep. He didn't mind that so much either, although the kid did tend to drool on occasion. Still, it was worth it, for all the rest. Even when she dubbed him with the name 'Hopper,' which was almost insulting - and certainly would have been, if she weren't only seven years old. 

Malhare held no ill-will towards the girl or her family, especially given that they were his ticket to freedom. Still, when he realized he was close enough with the child to siphon off a bit of consciousness for his own gain - well, that was a temptation he couldn't ignore. But he kept it mild. He didn't hurt her, besides a bit of a headache for a day or two, and stopped when he got what he wanted. With just enough, he could escape the plush on occasion and move around of his own accord. He couldn't go far from the toy, given it was the core of his being, but he could walk through, and even just outside, the house without problem. It would have to be enough, for the moment. 

Unfortunately, it also came with a side-effect he didn't expect. One night, he floated away from the plush to go and sit by the windowsill and watch the outside world. He was humming softly to himself, minding his own business, when a quiet voice spoke up. 

"W-who are you?" Vanessa asked. Thinking there might be someone breaking into the girl's room, Malhare whipped around - only to see her staring right at _him._ Curious, he stood and stepped away from the window and, sure enough, her gaze followed him. 

"You can see me?" Malhare asked. Instead of answering, Vanessa's eyes went wide and she started to open her mouth. "Wait, wait!" Malhare said, holding his hands out. His command made her pause, still looking terrified and uncertain. "Don't yell, okay? It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm -" he paused, hesitated, then cringed slightly as he continued, "Ness, it's me. Hopper! Your best friend, remember?" 

"Hopper?" Vanessa asked, picking up the plush in question. She looked between it and Malhare, clearly not buying it. Malhare nodded eagerly, desperate for her to believe him. He didn't know why she could see him, but he could only assume it had to do with their small exchange of consciousness. Which meant no one else would be likely to see him. Malhare still didn't want her calling out for her dad and telling him, though. The man - Mike, Malhare had learned - was exceedingly careful and protective where Vanessa was concerned. If she told him she was seeing strange bunny-men, he'd probably end up throwing Malhare's plush form in the fire, just to be safe. 

"Yeah!" Malhare said, "it's just me. Sorry, Nessie, I didn't mean to spook you!" He hopped in place, once, glad to see it lighten Vanessa's suspicion, even if just a bit. 

"You're just a toy," Vanessa said, holding the plush up as if it were proof, "I'm a big girl now, I know toys aren't real."

"Most toys aren't," Malhare answered, "that's true! Very smart. But I'm a special toy, Nessie! See, we're best friends. And because you were so nice to me, I was able to come to life. Isn't that neat?" 

"Prove it," She demanded suddenly. Malhare paused in place, tilting his head - the audacity! 

"Huh?" 

"Prove it," she repeated, gesturing with the plush rabbit at him, "you gotta show me you're really Hopper, or I'm gonna call my dad." Was the kid actually _blackmailing_ him? Malhare huffed, trying to show her how little he appreciated that. But, fine, if she needed proof, he'd give her proof. He flourished his arms to the side, then returned his full consciousness to the plush. Once there, he let his annoyance shine through. He saw the green tint of his digital aura shine on Vanessa's face. He let his eyes light - filling the plush's eyes with a vibrant purple shine. 

"You see?" He asked, and Vanessa gasped at the plush in her hands. So she could hear him like this, too. That was important to know. "I'm Hopper. Do you believe me now? I know it's a little scary," He acquiesced, realizing taunting or teasing the girl would get him nowhere, "but you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm still your best friend - and thanks to you, I'm alive!" 

"Wow," Vanessa breathed. She didn't say anything else for a long minute, and Malhare waited in tense silence. He couldn't really _do_ anything if she decided to call her father after all, all he could do was hope she didn't. "Are we really best friends?" She asked, finally, and Malhare knew he could relax. 

"Of course!" He answered eagerly, "we're best friends, forever." Vanessa watched him for a moment longer, then smiled - the expression genuine and soft. Inexplicably, Malhare felt himself relax even more. "There's something really important you have to do, though," He continued. Vanessa tensed again, and he knew he had to tread carefully - with a father like hers, she was no doubt well warned about secrets. "I'm magic, Ness," Malhare continued, "and magic has rules, okay? The biggest rule is you can't tell anyone about me."

"I'm supposed to tell daddy everything," she immediately argued. Just as Malhare expected. 

"And that's good," He agreed, "you _should_ tell him everything, especially if someone could get hurt. But this is special, Nessie. No one's going to get hurt - but if you tell him, I'll have to go away forever!" He left it there - let her draw the important conclusions. She was quiet again, biting at her lip so hard Malhare was sure she'd make herself bleed. 

"If you hurt anyone, I'll have to tell," Vanessa finally said. That, Malhare decided, was probably fair. And he could work with it. After all, he truly didn't intend _to_ hurt anyone - least of all Vanessa or her family. He was more free now, than ever. If he hurt any of them, he'd probably end up back on a shelf forever. If he were lucky enough to escape the flames a second time. 

"Sure," Malhare agreed easily, "of course! But you have my promise, I won't hurt anyone." Vanessa nodded, then set the plush down on the bed. 

"Pinky promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky as an offering. With a genuine chuckle, Malhare materialized in front of her and crossed her pinky with his own. 

"Pinky promise," He agreed. 

* * *

Vanessa took to Malhare’s companionship like a fish to water. She might have been somewhat afraid of him that first night, but after that she accepted his presence without problem. He’d been concerned, at first, that she’d accidentally let their secret slip - she was, after all, only a child. And she did, on occasion. But it wasn’t often enough to be much of a concern, and usually when she did she only said small things that the adults around her just took to be her imagination and adoration of her stuffed rabbit. Malhare did his best to help by keeping himself scarce when they were around others. 

She had always liked talking to him, but now that she knew he could talk back her chatter was almost incessant. Malhare didn’t really mind - after all, he’d spent a long time with nothing but his own thoughts. The talking, even the one-sided chatter of a child, was a welcome change to his life. 

It was raining one weekend morning, and Vanessa was roaming her room in clear boredom. She looked at a few activities - picked up a board game, a book, a few Barbie dolls - but ended up abandoning them all within a few minutes. Eventually, she plopped down on her floor with a coloring book, some crayons, and a heavy sigh. She spent a little while drawing something, and Malhare idly switched his attention between the water-laden outside world and Vanessa. 

“I’m bored!” Vanessa declared suddenly, a few minutes later. She dropped her crayon to the floor and shut the book with a snap. “It’s so _boring_.” 

_Try spending a year on a store shelf,_ Malhare thought to himself, _then tell me about boring._ “I’m sure if you go and find your dad, he’ll help you find something to do,” he said out loud, “you know he loves reading with you, or playing games, or whatever.” 

“Reading and games are boring,” Vanessa complained. Malhare rolled his eyes and looked over at Vanessa. 

“Well, what do you want to do, then? Whatever it is, I’m sure he’d be happy to do it with you.” 

“I dunno,” Ness answered. She kicked the heels of her feet against the floor a few times, thinking. Then, suddenly, she brightened and jumped to her feet. “I know! Let’s have a tea party!” 

“Sorry, I’m kind of busy,” Malhare responded, looking back out the window, “but you know who would probably love to have a tea party with you? Your _dad._ ” He didn’t look over - not even when he felt Vanessa hurry closer in order to peer up at his face. 

“I want _you_ to have a tea party with me,” she said, “Please, Hopper?” she dragged out the word ‘please,’ and Malhare made the mistake of looking over at her. She was watching him with wide, hopeful eyes - doing her best impression of a beg. 

“I can’t even hold the teacup,” he told her, but instead of being discouraged, she just brightened more.

“No one else can either! That’s okay!” She told him. Malhare very much wanted to continue telling her no - but he found the words stuck in his throat at her hopeful look. 

“Okay, okay,” he said, “I’ll sit at the table.” Her beaming grin, he decided, was worth the embarrassment of taking part in a child’s tea party. She hurried around the room to grab the parts - setting up a short, small table with a few small seats and a gathering of her favorite stuffed animals. Malhare was almost too tall for the table even sitting, so he sat cross legged on the floor next to it. He watched quietly as Vanessa set out the collection of tiny tea cups and silverware. She even put out a few fake pastries and cakes. 

Then, she pulled out a box and, from that box, a collection of various scarves, hats, and other clothing. Most of it was small, meant for Barbie dolls and the other small plushies that she owned. To Malhare’s horror, though, she did pull out a wide-brimmed hat and scarf big enough for a person. Or, in Vanessa’s view, big enough for a sentient rabbit virus ghost. As she approached him, Malhare held his hands up to stop her. 

“No, no thank you,” he said, as kindly as he could manage, “I don’t really play dress-up.”

“It’s a tea party,” she informed him matter-of-factly, “you have to dress up!” 

“I have a better idea,” he answered, “Why don’t _you_ dress up? And I’ll stay just like this. I already have a bow tie and vest, after all. That’s got to be dressed up enough.” 

“These are tea party clothes,” Vanessa argued, “please? It’s part of the game.” Malhare let out a sigh, then shrugged slightly and let her approach - mostly because he knew exactly what was going to happen. Sure enough, Vanessa reached up to lay the hat on his head - and watched as it promptly fell through him and to the ground. 

“Sorry kid,” Malhare said, “but I can’t really wear clothes, anyway.” He tilted his head, watching as Vanessa stared at the hat. Then, suddenly, her eyes began to well up with tears. She looked so absolutely heartbroken by the sight of the fallen hat, that all at once Malhare felt like a grade A asshole. “Aw Ness, don’t cry, it’s okay. We can still have a nice tea party!” 

“‘s not the same,” she muttered, wiping at her face as she leaned over to pick the hat up. She brushed it off, then turned and laid it on the table, along with the scarf she’d picked out for him. “I don't wanna play anymore,” she continued. Malhare watched her, feeling his ears fall to the sides in a droop. Had dressing up really meant _that_ much to her?

“Well, I do,” he said after a few seconds, “I think I know just what to do. I’ll go back to the plush - then you can put me in a chair and dress me up as much as you want. What do you think?” Vanessa looked at him, and a second later he watched her mood lift. She hurried over to her bed and pulled the rabbit plush from it in order to bring it back over to the table. 

“Can I put the polka-dot hat on you?” She asked, much more cheerfully. Malhare somehow managed to avoid visibly shivering. Good thing the grin on his face was eternally fixed. 

“Sure, whatever you want,” he answered as his physical form vanished and he returned to the plush rabbit. Taking him at his word, Vanessa hummed and began to dress the little rabbit up. Despite the growing embarrassment of being dressed up for a child’s game, Malhare couldn’t summon much real ire. After all, Vanessa was happy, so what else really mattered?


	18. Prompt 18: Elizabeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, Michael died not long after the accident that killed his little brother. One sibling survives, however, and at eighteen years old, Elizabeth Afton takes the nightguard job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. What she finds is far more than she ever expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in an alternate universe where both Jeremy and Michael died, but Elizabeth survived. The timing is probably a little off from the canon AU, so don't think too hard about that. ;)

Elizabeth Afton was settled in a chair back in the small, cramped office in the darkened building of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It was her first night on the job, the clock was nearing midnight, and she tapped her fingers anxiously against the arms of the chair. She'd taken the job on a whim, in need of some kind of paycheck and drawn to her family's legacy. She didn't have a lot of memories of Fazbear's - she’d been very young when her father had stopped taking her there. She’d been very young when it had claimed everyone _but_ her father - she’d lost both of her older brothers in a small span of time. 

Her father had grown bitter and withdrawn, and Elizabeth had spent most of her childhood learning how to care for herself. She could clearly remember being eight years old and often waking up to a quiet, empty house. She’d have to figure out her own breakfast, get on the bus alone, and often figure out her own dinner too. Sometimes her father would come home before she went to bed - sometimes he wouldn’t. If she were asleep, he would come and stand in her doorway and just stare - it always woke her up, though she wouldn’t let him know. It was probably the most parental thing he ever did.

Then, last year when Elizabeth was seventeen, her father had vanished entirely and without warning. He left no note, no indication of where he was going. He took no food, no clothes - Elizabeth wasn’t sure he’d _meant_ to leave. She’d waited and waited for him to come home, but when he didn’t, she just accepted she was truly alone. She didn’t call the police, didn’t file a missing person report, she just did her best to pick up and continue on living. No police - that had been a rule for as long as she could remember. She’d been fine for awhile, but eventually decided she needed a job. She was close to graduating High School, needed some extra money, and so she’d gone searching.

Elizabeth almost didn’t believe it when she found the ad for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. She had thought it over for a long time - both intimidated and excited by the idea of working for what had once been her family’s business. Curiosity had eventually gotten the best of her and she’d applied - only to be accepted practically immediately without any sort of real interview. She’d briefly considered bowing out - a place that was that desperate for workers was probably not a great place to work. But in the end she’d stayed. 

So far, it'd all been a massive disappointment. The restaurant was ill kept, borderline dirty, and the animatronics had obviously seen better days. Elizabeth really couldn’t remember Fredbear’s in its glory days, but she knew her Father - there was no way the original restaurant had been so poorly managed. But, it was her job now, and Elizabeth was not the type to perform poorly ever, so long as she could manage it. She’d be the best damn nightguard they’d ever had. 

The clock struck midnight, and the phone on the desk suddenly rang with such a clatter that Elizabeth jumped a mile. Wondering who would be calling so late, she picked up the phone. 

“Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza,” she greeted, “this is El-” Before she could finish her greeting, the voice on the other end began to speak. Taken aback, Elizabeth tried to interject again after the man’s ‘Hello’s,’ but he continued on before she could. When she realized it was just a recording, Elizabeth settled back into her chair to listen. The man’s words were a bunch of mumble jumble and legalities, and though she listened to every word, Elizabeth had to really focus to do so. 

That became a lot easier when the man mentioned _wandering animatronics._ That got Elizabeth’s attention, and she switched the camera feed back to the main stage. All three animatronics were still there, just as they had been when she first sat down. The man on the phone continued on about the hows and whys and the ‘they’ll stuff you in a suit,’ which admittedly made Elizabeth a little more worried. Wandering animatronics, left in free roam so their robotic joints wouldn’t lock up. Elizabeth wasn’t sure she bought that. 

The man finished his spiel and Elizabeth hung up the phone. Almost immediately, her camera feed cut out to static. Alarmed, she smacked at the tablet and shook it, trying to get the feed to come back. It did after a few long seconds - and when it did, she saw that the stage was one animatronic fewer. Bonnie the bunny had decided to start _wandering,_ it seemed. 

Swallowing hard, Elizabeth started flipping through the feeds trying to find the rabbit. If the animatronics would really see her as a furless endoskeleton, it would be better to make sure they didn’t see her at all. So she settled in, prepared to do just that. 

* * *

Elizabeth had never imagined her job being so stressful when she started it. It was a bit like a game of cat and mouse, where she took on the role of ‘mouse.’ The first night hadn’t been so bad, though - Bonnie and Chica had both moved about, and the rabbit had even visited the office once. But once he’d wandered away, neither of them ever showed up again. When six am hit, they’d wandered back to their stage and had settled there, once again deactivated. The whole experience had been a bit scary, given the dark atmosphere of the restaurant and the knowledge that the animatronics apparently had a habit of stuffing people into suits. But it’d been easy enough to manage.

So she went back for a second night. The man’s phone message was a bit different, a bit more _serious_ than on the first night, but Elizabeth wasn’t all that concerned. Bonnie and Chica were easy enough to shoo away, and she’d just do the same for Freddy if he even wandered off stage. As the night went on, she quickly learned what the phone guy had meant - Bonnie and Chica both moved earlier, and they wandered closer to her more quickly than they had the night before. Freddy stayed put, though - though there was one moment when Elizabeth flipped the feed to look at him, and found him staring right at the camera. That had been a little unnerving, she had to admit, but he still didn’t move so she brushed it off.

The phone guy had mentioned something about pirate’s cove, but Elizabeth hadn’t listened much to that bit of his speech. Something she briefly had time to regret right around three in the morning. She was staring down Chica - who was hanging out near her window on the right - when there was a sudden _thump thump thump_ sound from down the hallway. She knew immediately it was a running animatronic, but the knowing didn’t help her at all. She lunged for her other door, but before she could hit the button, he was _there_.

Foxy lunged at her, and for the first time since she started the job, Elizabeth screamed. Her momentum carried her right to the fox - she couldn’t even begin to throw herself back in time. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt with his hand, and lifted her clean off the ground. Elizabeth struggled and pushed and hit the fox, but he wouldn’t be deterred. He pulled her closer to him, his metal fangs glistening, his hook coming up threateningly. In that moment, Elizabeth was suddenly sure that all that talk about getting shoved into a suit and whatever was a lie - the fox was going to bite or gut her. As his fangs came closer still, Elizabeth cried out and brought her arms up, trying to guard her face from his teeth. 

Then the sudden, harsh sound of metal grinding filled the air. The fox’s movements stilled, and when neither of them moved for a long few seconds, Elizabeth lowered her arm slightly and looked at him. He was comically still, his mouth partially open as if to bite, his eyepatch flipped up to reveal another eye beneath. Nothing inside of him whirled or moved - it was as if he had been deactivated entirely. 

“AHOY, LASS!” The pirate suddenly called loudly. Elizabeth yelped again and threw her arm back up, but when Foxy moved, it was only to set her back on her feet. Deciding it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she quickly backed away, lowering both arms to look at the fox again. 

“A-AHOY, E-E-Lizabeth!” The fox continued, its voicebox stuttering as it spoke, “Ahoy - oh, stop it with the ahoy, ye great metal lump! She gets it, let me - aye, thank ye. That be better. Elizabeth! That be your name, aye?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Elizabeth said, staring in disbelief at the animatronic now, “how do you know my name? How are you _talking_?”

“Talkin’ be the easy part,” Foxy answered, “we can all do it. The spirits made it possible, ye know? As for yer name, well...I ain’t too sure ye’ll be believin’ me, Lizzy. Mayhaps it’s best if ye don’t know.” 

“But, now you have to tell me. Besides, it’s only fair, since you almost ate me,” Elizabeth told him. She was surprised to see the fox actually _flinch_. 

“Aye. My apologies on that one - we have been here a long time, Elizabeth. There is a lot of anger here. I spend more time out of my control than in it. But I recognized ye - I recognized ye, and I couldn’t let ol’ Foxy here hurt ye.” The fox lifted a hand, looked at it, then lowered it again before turning his attention back to Elizabeth. “The animatronics here be haunted, Lizzy. And hauntin’ this here fox - well, I’m Michael.” 

“ _Michael_?” Elizabeth asked, feeling her heart jump to her throat, “what do you mean, Michael - is this...is this a joke? Did someone program you to say that? No, no, you must mean - you’re someone named Michael. It’s a common name, it…”

“Aye, it is, but no, that ain’t what I mean,” Foxy said, “it really be me. _Yer_ Michael. Yer brother. Or, at least, I was, once upon a time. Not quite sure what I am any longer, if I’m bein’ honest with ye. But I know ye, I won’t let any of ‘em hurt ye.”

Elizabeth stared at the animatronic, uncertain of what to say. She knew what had happened to Jeremy - she had heard that story plenty as she grew up. Michael, though, his fate had always been a mystery. All her father had ever said was Michael was gone. Michael had left. Michael was responsible for what had happened to Jeremy, so why did she keep asking about him? She had never learned anything about her oldest brother. But now, he claimed to be here, in front of her. Haunting Foxy. As far as she knew, only ghosts could haunt things - which meant Michael was dead.

“You’re...you’re dead?” She asked him, the thought clogging up her throat in a lump. 

“Aye,” and somehow, Foxy’s voice seemed gentler, “I been dead a long time, Lizzy.”

“But...how? When? What happened?” 

“I’d rather not tell ye,” Foxy - no, _Michael_ responded. “It’s not a pretty story. Best if ye don’t know, for now.” 

Elizabeth wanted to argue, and she almost did. But then she snapped her mouth closed, deciding that he was probably right. It was bad enough to know he was dead at all - neither of them needed to relive the hows and whys. 

“Have you been alone here, all this time?” Elizabeth asked instead. 

“Nah, I ain’t alone,” Michael answered, “there be others here. The animatronics themselves make for decent company too. Also, I ain’t the only...Eh. Maybe tellin’ that ain’t my place.” 

“ _It’s alright,”_ a new voice spoke, “ _I’m here.”_

Elizabeth turned in place, then immediately jumped back. There was another animatronic in the room now, one she’d never seen before. It was a golden bear, and it was slumped over near the desk. It was staring at her, though it was difficult to tell given that it didn’t even seem to have eyes. Unconsciously, Elizabeth backed closer to Foxy, who reached out and put a hand against her shoulder.

“It be alright,” Michael said, “he won’t be hurtin’ ye.”

“ _Hello, Lizzy. It’s good to see you again,”_ that second voice spoke again - and Elizabeth realized it was coming from the bear. 

“Who are you?” Elizabeth asked, with a growing sense that she might know the answer. 

“ _It’s me, Jeremy,”_ the bear responded. 

“Jeremy,” Elizabeth echoed. She glanced back at Foxy. “Our Jeremy?”

“Aye.” 

“You’re both here,” Elizabeth said softly, looking at the bear again, “You’ve been here, all along? I wish...I wish I’d known. I would have come sooner…”

“How could ye have known?” Michael asked. 

“ _I’ll assume father never told you anything about this place,”_ Jeremy added.

“No, he didn’t. He didn’t even tell me about you, Michael.”

“Aye, I suppose he wouldn’t,” Michael responded, and Elizabeth gave him a look at the clear bitterness in his tone. The fox stayed quiet beyond that, though.

“ _It was risky to come here,”_ Jeremy said, “ _but...we’re glad you did. We have talked about you often, you know. We were hopeful you escaped the worst of our fortune. It is a relief to see you here and alive.”_

“I wish you could have too,” Elizabeth told them, “I...I’ve missed you. Both of you. I’ve wished, so many times, that you could be there with me. It would have been a lot less…lonely.” She paused. “Sorry. I guess that probably seems pretty silly compared to all of this.” 

“Not at all. It ain’t any easier bein’ lonely,” Michael said.  
  
“ _It’s not quite the same,”_ Jeremy added, “ _but you don’t have to be alone anymore. We’re here. You can be here. We can be together again, as best we can. If you’ll stay.”_

“The others…?”

“They ain’t unreasonable,” Michael said, “We can tell ‘em yer a friend. They’ll believe us, and they’ll leave ye alone. H-H-Heck, they might even be yer friends too. When they ain’t out for blood, they be a cuddly sort of lot.” 

_“We’ll understand if it’s too much,”_ Jeremy said, _“but, we’d like it if you come back. We’d like to hear about your life. We’d like...we’d just like to have you close.”_

Elizabeth looked between them both - the fox animatronic with the sharp teeth and sharper hook and the ominous golden bear who stared ahead with sighless eyes. She looked at them both - her brothers, or at least what remained of them. She had daydreamed often as a child about her brothers being home with her - of a whole family instead of the fractured thing she had. This hadn’t been exactly what she’d imagined - but even still, fate had brought her brothers back to her. A little less whole than they’d once been, but her brothers all the same. 

She looked at Foxy - at Michael - and then she went to him. Not giving herself time to think about it, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. After a startled pause, he wrapped his arms carefully around her and hugged her back. Not long after, Elizabeth felt something warm and heavy drape itself over her back, and she knew that the golden bear had joined them. 

It was a strange feeling - a scratchy animatronic ahead, an oddly warm suit behind. But the hug was warm and genuine, and Elizabeth wasn’t surprised to feel tears dripping down her cheeks. It was unorthodox and broken - but in that moment, Elizabeth felt more at home than she had for as long as she could remember.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered softly. And something within the two animatronics glowed with warmth.


	19. Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Fritz go to the fair.

Mike hadn't been to many fairs in his lifetime. He could remember going all of twice in his childhood - once with a friend, and once with his family. The time with his friend had been fun, he was pretty sure, but the family trip...well, not so much. It'd rained most of the time, which had made them all grouchy - Elizabeth especially, who'd still been in diapers at the time. Between her tantrums and Jeremy's terrified refusal to ride  _ anything,  _ William had ended up calling the whole thing off. 

As a teen on the streets, Mike hadn't been able to convince himself to spend any of the small amounts of money he had on a fair ticket. And, of course, fairs were noisy, loud, and full of people. Not to mention rides that knocked you around and whipped you about. So after Toy Bonnie's attempt at a makeshift lobotomy starring Mike's head, he'd never felt much need to go to a place like that. 

But Fritz had asked him to go. Had said they needed to get out and hang out without it being at a Fazbear's location. 

"You know I love them," Fritz had been quick to add, "of course I do. But, uh, I dunno. I just think it'd be fun to hang out somewhere else too. I love the fair…wanna go?" 

And Mike hadn't wanted to, not really. But, hey, it'd been forever and a day since he'd last gone to one. And it was difficult to say no in the face of Fritz's earnest offer. So he'd agreed. 

Truthfully, the fair hadn't been so bad, at first. It was loud and crowded, but it was easy to drown that out if Mike just let himself get drawn into conversation with Fritz. The other man didn't mind how Mike often clutched his shoulder, either, to be sure they weren't separated from each other when pressing through especially crowded places. Mike did enjoy the freshly pressed lemonade and the elephant ear they shared. He also enjoyed the truffle fries, corn dog, slurpee - the food was his favorite part, if he were honest. 

Mike even let Fritz convince him to try a ride. It was the Gravitron, and they both assumed it'd be fine. It  _ was  _ quite a lot of fun, even for a ride that literally just spun you around really, really fast. But as they stumbled slightly away from it, both laughing and trying to hold on to each other for balance, Mike felt an all too-familiar stab of pain. 

And within a half an hour, it'd flared up into a full-blown migraine. 

He did his best to hide it from Fritz. He worked through it, grinned through it, chatted as they moved around the fair and tried their hands at some of the games scattered around. Fritz had been so excited about coming to the fair, and still seemed to be having a great time. Mike couldn't bring himself to ruin that. 

"Hey," Mike said at one point, grabbing Fritz's arm to get his attention, "I'm gonna run to the restroom. Why don't you get another ride in or something, and I'll meet you by that fun house with the clown on it."

"Yeah, okay, sure," Fritz said, "I'll meet you there!" Mike nodded and waved as they parted ways. He made his way towards the restrooms, but before he'd gotten to them, he rounded a corner into a little, empty section instead. It was a spot between two corner booths, darkened by shade and littered with garbage. But it gave Mike what he needed - a place to pause and breathe. 

Mike cradled his head in his hands, closing his eyes as he rode another sharp wave of pain. He caught himself letting out a quick gasp of a sob. He hadn't meant to, but the pain had driven him to it. Something warm dropped onto his hand, and he cursed under his breath. He hadn't meant to cry - and now he'd have to stay there longer, to let the redness in his eyes fade before he tried to look Fritz in the face again. 

Mike jumped violently when a hand suddenly clasped his shoulder. He lifted his head quickly and turned, just as Fritz pushed a bottle of water into his hands. 

"Here," Fritz said, his voice quiet and smooth, "drink some - I know it won't help a lot, but it can't hurt, either." With a shaky sigh, Mike looked in defeat at the water, opened it, and did as told. "Mike," Fritz continued, "why on earth didn't you say anything?" 

"You were having fun," Mike responded in a mutter, "I didn't want to put a damper on your day."

"I did have fun," Fritz agreed, "plenty of it to go on with. And now it's time to jet - C'mon Mike, let's, uh, get you home so you can get some rest."

"You really don't have to do that," Mike insisted, "I can hang out here, and you can go and finish up what you wanted to do."

"I  _ wanted  _ to hang out," Fritz told him, "and we did, and we had a good time, and I'm not, uh, leaving you standing in a dirty, dark corner, in pain, just so I can go on a few more overpriced rides. So, am I taking you home, or to the Arcade?"

Mike studied the other man for a second, then couldn't help but smile, pain and all. Fritz was unfailingly earnest - and Mike knew that he wasn't exaggerating or trying to coddle Mike. Fritz meant every word. 

"Home, I think," Mike answered, "and Fritz? Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it. Next time you try to be all self-sacrificing though, I tell the rabbit."

"That's cruel," Mike said, even as Fritz shot him a grin. 

"I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (If you've given me ideas for oneshots, I promise I haven't forgotten! I had bad writers block for a bit and just had to get out what wanted to come out. Things are better now, though!)


	20. Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth Afton is very alone - but at least she has a robot friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Implied Child Death

"Daddy? Where's Michael?" Elizabeth Afton asked. She was all of 6 years old, sitting at their kitchen table. She kicked her feet slightly back and forth, the picture book she'd been attempting to read forgotten in her hands. She stared instead across the table at her father. He didn't respond to her question - he was hunched over a book of his own, frowning deeply at it as he read. "Daddy?" Elizabeth pried again. 

"Elizabeth, if you're not going to read quietly," her father said, not even looking at her, "then go to your room and keep to yourself." Elizabeth flinched, slipped down slightly in her seat, and pulled the book up to cover her face. Once it was hidden, she felt it screw up slightly. She told herself sternly not to cry - she was noisy when she cried, and her daddy didn't like that.

Once upon a time, Elizabeth had lived with her daddy, her older brother Jeremy, and her oldest brother Michael. They'd had a mommy once, too, but she left before Elizabeth could remember her. Then, Jeremy had his accident - and no one would tell her what kind of accident, only that he was dead - and Michael had gone away. It was just Elizabeth and her daddy now. 

She missed her brothers a _lot_. She knew Jeremy was dead - and she knew what dead meant, that he would never, ever come home - but what she didn't understand was where Michael had gone. She thought big brothers were supposed to watch out for little sisters - so why had he left her all alone? 

Suddenly feeling like she was going to cry after all, Elizabeth slipped from her chair and quietly excused herself from the kitchen. She wandered to her room, carefully shut her door, and then sat on the floor. She sniffled and rubbed at her face, thinking again about her brothers. She guessed she wasn't _alone_ , but her daddy was so busy all the time that it was like she was. She was always told to go play in her room, or go to bed, or "stop _talking_ , Elizabeth, my god, do you ever _stop?_ " 

Elizabeth was pretty sure her brothers would have listened to all of her stories and adventures. She imagined it often - it was her favorite story to tell herself as she tried to go to sleep. She'd imagine sitting on the floor, her two big brothers sitting with her, chattering away. They always listened intently, and smiled at her, and gasped and awed in all the right places. They asked her questions, and Elizabeth would mumble the answers to herself as she tried not to cry, lying there alone in bed. 

She'd once upset herself so much that she'd gone to her daddy's room. But when she'd waken him, he'd scowled at her, told her never to wake him again and to go back to her room before he really gave her something to cry about. 

Her daddy didn't like to be woken up. Or bothered. Or, it seemed, to interact with her in any way, shape, or form. She thought maybe he missed her brothers, too. Maybe he'd liked them better, and wished they were still there, and not Elizabeth. 

At least she had one friend, though. It was Elizabeth's very secret friend. If her daddy ever found out, she'd be in the biggest trouble of her life. But he didn't pay enough attention to her to ever really know. As long as she never went to see her friend at the same time as her daddy, he'd never know. 

Elizabeth's friend was a robot. Her name was Circus Baby, and she lived in their garage. Elizabeth thought she was beautiful - she had vivid, bright red hair and welcoming, glittering green eyes. She didn't talk much, but she did sing and dance and move, and Elizabeth always watched in awe. Circus Baby helped Elizabeth imagine more stories - stories where she was as beautiful and graceful as the robot. Stories where people watched her with the same sort of awe and respect as she did Baby. There were other stories still where Baby sat Elizabeth on her knee and listened intently as the little girl poured her heart out. 

Circus Baby came close to making that real. She didn't ooh and aww at Elizabeth's stories, but she _did_ listen. She didn't speak, or react, but Elizabeth just knew that the robot was _really_ listening. Circus Baby was Elizabeth's best friend. Maybe her brothers and mother were gone, maybe her daddy never listened to her. But at least she had Baby. At least she had _someone._

Elizabeth thought of Circus Baby now, and decided it was a good time to go and see the robot. Her daddy was busy, after all - he'd been scowling very hard at that book, and would probably keep reading it long past bedtime. He'd never notice that Elizabeth was gone - she could sneak out to the garage, talk to Baby for a bit, and get back to her room without a problem. So, that's exactly what Elizabeth did. She had to sneak a little bit, when she had to walk past the kitchen, but otherwise she got to the garage without an issue. There, standing behind the lone car in the garage, was Baby. She was frozen in place as usual - staring forward, her arms and hands placed as if she were giving a big talk. She was smiling - there was a slight split in her face, today. That happened sometimes. 

"Hello, Baby," Elizabeth said, walking up to the animatronic. "I wanna talk to you, okay? 'Cause you're a really good listener." The animatronic didn't say anything - she never really did. But Elizabeth settled into a spot on the floor anyway, and began to talk. She told Baby about what her daddy had said to her, she told the robot about how it'd hurt her feelings. Elizabeth told Baby about how much she missed her brothers - a topic she'd mentioned a few times before. She cried a little - she usually did, although she tried to only sniffle, so her daddy wouldn't hear her. 

Eventually, Elizabeth knew she had to leave again, before her daddy came to work on Baby more. She climbed to her feet, rubbed at her face, and turned to leave the garage. She hadn't even stepped away, however, when Baby started making a strange grinding noise. Alarmed, worried she might have somehow broken the robot, Elizabeth turned back around. Baby vibrated in place, the noises continuing for a long minute. And then, suddenly, a plate on Baby's stomach opened - and an arm slipped out, holding an ice cream cone clutched tight. 

"Would you like some ice cream?" Circus Baby asked. Elizabeth gasped - she rarely heard the robot talk, and Baby had never talked to _her._ Nor had Elizabeth ever seen Baby make _ice cream._ Elizabeth was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to have ice cream without asking first, but it looked fresh and inviting - cold and sweet and all of her favorite things. She fought with herself for a few seconds - but in the end, her love for ice cream won out. 

Elizabeth stepped closer to Circus Baby. The robot's face split a bit wider as she smiled more brightly at the little girl. It was contagious - Elizabeth couldn't help but smile back. She got close enough to reach out for ice cream, and so she did - she took it from the robot, brought it up to her mouth, and took a bite. It was refreshingly cold and the perfect amount of sweet. Elizabeth looked up at Baby with wide eyes, and gave the robot a beaming, grateful smile. 

"Thank you, Baby! You're the best!" Elizabeth said. The robot didn't respond again, just peered down at the girl with that same wide smile and bright-eyed look. Elizabeth turned her attention back to the ice cream dug in with gusto. 

Without warning, Circus Baby's stomach exploded outward with a loud, crashing ruckus. Elizabeth screamed as something clutched her tight, sending the ice cream tumbling from her hand. She was ripped forward - the last thing she saw was the tangled wires of Baby's exoskeleton as Elizabeth was pulled towards the animatronic. 

And then her whole world went black. 


	21. Copycat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a Copycat killer around. And Mike's not having any of that in his restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Implied Child Death. On-screen minor character death.
> 
> Just a little thing I've been sitting on for months. Definitely not Canon to the Family story - just a fun experiment in 'what if.' Mike isn't 100% different from his father, after all.

Working during the day - at least some of the time - had been an adjustment for Mike and the approximately two people who ever bothered to call him. Rick's calls were very far and few in between - the two had stayed in touch, after the disaster at Fazbear's Fright, but they didn't talk all that often. Henry called more often, but was always cognizant of Mike's schedule. It was best to call him in the late afternoon - no matter what 'shift' he'd kept to the day before, he was almost always awake in the afternoon. So why, exactly, the phone was ringing at approximately midnight on a day he'd spent working the dayshift, Mike couldn't say. 

He grumbled and rolled in bed, trying to ignore the loud noise. Probably spam, if he had to guess. He distantly heard it as the answering machine picked up the call. He heard it a lot more clearly when the caller spoke to the answering machine in garbled, mutated words Mike couldn't understand. But he sure as hell woke up, shooting up in bed and straining to hear the message. It was gibberish, and any other person might have thought it was a prank call. But Mike knew better. He'd heard that garbled gibberish exactly once before, when he'd finally gotten the courage to listen to the fifth recorded tape left for him at Freddy's. 

It was an animatronic - Freddy, Mike was sure of it. And he was in distress. 

Mike was up and moving before he was really cognizant of it. There was a brief second of realization that the pants he'd thrown on were inside out, but he continued on as if nothing were wrong. Before long, he was in his car and speeding for the restaurant. 

The car squealed to a halt right in front of the door to the Arcade, and Mike barely got it turned off before clambering out and to the door. He cursed under his breath as he fumbled with the keys, but he got it open and shot inside, looking around wildly for any sign of what was wrong. 

He froze in the doorway. Spring Bonnie was the only immediately visible animatronic. He was sitting on the main stage, his legs crossed, and a book was propped open on his knees. Sitting in front of him were two children - small ones, a little boy and a little girl, and they were clearly delighted by whatever story Spring Bonnie was reading to them. 

_ Why the hell are there children here after hours?  _ Mike thought in bewilderment. 

Mike moved over to the stage, holding himself back from hurry, so as to not spook the kids or Spring Bonnie. 

"Hey buddy," Mike greeted the rabbit, who looked over with a single perked ear, "you've got some new pals, huh? Hey guys!" The children looked at each other, then back to Mike with wide, uncertain eyes. But Spring Bonnie gave Mike an ecstatic look. 

"It's okay, guys," Spring said, "this is Mike - he's my friend. Mike, this is James and Jamie - they can't read yet, so I'm reading to them instead."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you both," Mike said. He crouched down beside them, giving them what he hoped was a soothing smile. "We're always happy to make new friends, here at Fazbear's. But it's a little late at night, huh? How'd you two wander in?" They exchanged another look, then looked to Spring Bonnie, who gave them an encouraging nod. 

"He's the ice cream man!" James said, nibbling on the tip of his thumb, "said to come to the park."

"At night!" Jamie added, "and then we could see Freddy. He said!" 

Mike felt cold shoot down his nerves, all the way to the depths of his soul. His mind's eye went to the newspaper clippings and stories, the only ones that'd been talked about for the last three weeks. Missing kids. Dead kids. It'd been a nightmare reborn, although the rumors about it happening at Fazbear's had been relatively brief. After all, kids who went missing at Freddy's didn't usually show back up in the river, a few days later. People had been forced to admit that there was zero evidence that anything had happened at the Arcade - and the business had been nothing but transparent and popular since its opening. It sounded to Mike, though, like the person responsible for the killings was switching it up. "Where's, uh, where's the ice cream man now?" he asked. 

"Ranned away," James said. He lifted a hand and pointed down the hall - deeper into the restaurant. Well. That explained a lot. Mike looked at Spring Bonnie, who was already looking back at him. At Mike's gaze, the rabbit gave a small nod. It was all Mike needed to know. He stood, smiling at the kids again. 

"Well, I'm sure your parents are missing you, by now. You guys will have to help me give them a call in a bit, okay? But for now, why don't you keep listening to Spring Bonnie's story? I need to take care of some things before we call your folks. Spring, you okay to keep reading to them?" 

"Of course," Spring Bonnie said, "I'll watch over them, Mike. Don't you worry." Mike nodded and reached over, laying a hand briefly on the rabbit's head. Then, he turned and headed for the east hall, feeling the cold from before settle into a hard ball of fury in his stomach. It was bad enough that someone was hurting other people, let alone children. It was an  _ insult,  _ though, that they would dare try to bring their crimes to Mike's restaurant. Of course, if it were true, it'd be the last damn thing the criminal did. As Mike walked, he heard clatter in the kitchen - Chica, no doubt. If she wasn't with the others, then Mike had a solid idea of what had happened. The man - this 'ice cream man' - had found the office, and had likely holed up inside of it. And Mike would bet the animatronics had decided to play the game right along with the other intruder. That meant Bonnie was likely somewhere in the west hall. And Freddy should be somewhere ahead. 

He was, in fact, lurking outside of the door to the security office. He was staring at the door, waiting for it to rise. Mike knew the door was a blindspot, but he guessed that the man didn't know that. Mike had long since fixed the issue with the night’s power - the generator was only ever used when there were actual power outages. That meant the man could keep the doors down indefinitely - but he hadn’t counted on Mike. 

Mike walked closer to Freddy, but paused before he was within immediate striking range. Even pissed - and from where he was, Mike could see the pitch black of the animatronic's eyes - Freddy wouldn't willingly hurt Mike. But if he were expecting an intruder and Mike got too close before letting the bear know it was him, well, frankly he'd probably deserve the hit. 

"Freddy," Mike said, pitching his voice low. The doors didn't let a lot of noise in, but that didn't mean they didn't let in any. Freddy froze, then turned his head quickly to look at Mike. Nothing changed, but it didn't have to - Mike knew his animatronic well enough to know when he'd been recognized. He moved over quickly and laid a hand on the bear's arm. He didn't try to pull Freddy back - he understood why the bear was pissed. His own eyes would be black, if he had that ability. "Keep back," Mike continued quietly, "give me a chance to get in there. Believe me - I don't think you'll be stuck out here for long."

It took a few seconds, but eventually Freddy turned slightly and moved, hiding against the wall next to the door. Mike watched, then nodded before clearing his throat and reaching up, giving the door a couple of quick raps. 

"Hey!" He called, "excuse me! Are you alright in there? Let me in - I can help you out!" There were a few heartbeats of silence. 

"W-who's there?" A voice called out, "you can't trick me, you demons!" 

"Not a demon," Mike responded, cheerfully, "I'll move to the window - go ahead and turn on the light. You'll see." And he did - he slid over to the glass, wincing slightly as the light flickered on. "See? My name's Mike, I own this place. The animatronics won't bother you while I'm here." A soft grunt from Freddy told Mike just what the bear thought of that. Mike shot him a warning glance and gestured at waist height with a hand. Freddy didn't like being told to wait - but he gave a quick nod anyway. "You’ve got to let me in, though. I can tell you how to get out without trouble." The man didn't respond for a minute, but then with a clatter, the door opened. Mike slipped inside, and quickly reached back to shut the door again, himself. 

The man inside was incredibly average. Middle-aged, average weight, taller than Mike - nothing about him screamed 'serial killer of children.' Then again, in Mike's point of view, the same could have been said about William. This man was sweating like crazy, though, and Mike could see his hands trembling. It was a familiar sight - terror of the things lurking outside. 

"Glad I caught up to you first," Mike said with a disarming smile, "you alright? None of them grabbed you, did they?" 

"No, no I got away. Just barely it seemed like, but - Jesus christ, what is wrong with those things?!" 

"They get a little touchy at night," Mike said. He leaned against the window wall, glancing towards the camera system. The man had clearly been using it - it was currently locked on Bonnie, who was standing at the hall-end nearest the opposite door. Staring at the camera. Equally as angry as Freddy - Mike could see minor twitches happening in the rabbit's face. "Which is why we generally don't let people in at night - what on earth brought you here?" Mike continued. 

"Okay, okay, look," the other man said, "I know it was dumb. You a father?" 

"No."

"Right, well, when you got kids, you'd do anything to make 'em happy, you know? Well, mine, they've been here a few times, and they adore these animatronic things. But they're always so busy - kids never get any time to them for themselves, you know? They just wanted to see the robots up close, get some quality time. So, I decided to make it happen."

"Breaking and entering is illegal," Mike said, raising an eyebrow. 

"I know, I know," the man said, "and I'm real sorry, alright? But like I said - kids. Gotta make 'em happy."

"Well, I have to assume those are your two out there," Mike said pleasantly, "definitely a pair of cuties. What are their names?" 

"Uh, little boy's Raymond, and the girl's Sam," the man responded. Mike had to hand it to him - it was obviously a practiced lie, it'd slipped so easily from his lips. Mike took a good look at the man in front of him - he wasn't clearly armed. Mike had to assume, if he were really here for the purpose Mike thought, that the man would have a weapon. It could be hidden - or, he may have dropped it when he'd been attacked by the animatronics. It was a risky situation but, well, it had a long way to go to be anything like fighting off bloodthirsty animatronics. 

"Uh huh," Mike said, "so, listen, here's the thing. I know those aren't your kids - those aren't even their names. And I'm pretty sure no kid would call their own dad 'the ice cream man.' So, here's what you need to understand, there's only one way you're leaving here alive tonight. And that is by telling me the truth."

"What!?" The man exclaimed, "what do you mean - it is the truth! Those are my kids, and this place is a fucking nightmare. You can't keep me here against my will!" 

"Absolutely not," Mike agreed, "in fact, if you want to leave, I'll go ahead and hit this door button right now. And you'll be free to go - at least, as far as you can get. Did you know Foxy can sprint like a professional runner? Yeah," he added at the horrified look on the other man's face, "I wouldn't bet on your chances. Not that it matters, because Freddy isn't far. He'll probably get to you first. So tell me, Mr. Ice Cream Man, you the guy who's been hurting those kids?" 

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah, okay, I can see you don't get it," Mike said, "so let me make it clearer. You tell me the truth, and I'll call the cops, and you get out of here alive. Yeah, okay, if you're the one who's killed those kids, you might still end up at the long end of Death Row. But supposedly, that's pretty painless, and hey, no guarantee, right? But if you keep lying to me, I'll just leave your fate to the animatronics. That will  _ not  _ be painless, I can promise you."

“You can’t - look, how ‘bout a counter offer?” The man responded, and - yeah, there it was. He reached to his waist, and came back with a knife, which he lifted to wave towards Mike. “You let me out of here, get me past these things, and I don’t gut you like a fish. What do you say now, tough guy? You like your chances? I don’t usually aim for grown folks, but I’ll make an exception for you.” Mike had to hand it to him, it was a solid threat. Given that the man was obviously responsible for the deaths of multiple children, he clearly wasn’t afraid of killing. 

Unfortunately for him, Mike had tasted what real, existential fear was. And it wasn’t human - the man did not have the upper hand here, even if he was the only one with a weapon. In a way, Mike had his own weapon. He reached out and tapped the door button, revealing Freddy standing there, black eyes glaring into the room. It had the desired effect - the man screamed and shot back towards the other wall. Mike quickly shut the door again, then crossed his arms. 

“Wanna try again?”

“Fine! Fine!” The man exclaimed, “yeah, I’m the one who’s been doing it! I hate the little shits - happy now? For god’s sake, call the cops, or whatever! Just get me the hell out of this place!” 

“No.”

“What? What the hell you mean, no?! We had a deal!” 

“Please.” Mike said, rolling his eyes, “You really think I’d just let you go? You’ve been hurting people - hurting  _ kids.  _ And here at the Arcade, we really like kids. I knew one of them, you know - his name was Billy. And Freddy was his favorite. He had his whole life ahead of him - and you snuffed it out. Like nothing. You mentioned demons before - but there’s only one demon here. And it’s you. And here’s the thing.” Mike leaned against the wall again, fingers ghosting over the door button. “Here at Fazbear's, we don’t really like to bother with the police. It’s much easier to take things into our own hands.” 

“No! No, don’t - look, what do you want? Want money? I can get you money. Lots of it. You won’t ever see me again - I’ll stop my horrible ways or...or whatever! Just get me the hell out of here, man, come on!” The man begged, and Mike had to admit, it felt good. He tried not to dwell on that - just remembered that the man in front of him had committed heinous and unforgivable crimes. Feeling some vindication at holding his fate in your own hands - that had to be a pretty normal, human feeling, right? 

“Sorry,” Mike responded, “you should have thought of doing that long before you hurt anyone. Don’t be scared - Freddy loves to make new friends.” With that, Mike tapped the door button again. Before the door had even risen entirely, the man screamed and hit the button opposite, thinking to make a run for it, most likely. 

But despite his size and usually calm demeanor, Freddy Fazbear was not slow. The man didn’t make it two steps out of the opposite door before Freddy was upon him. Mike watched as the bear picked up the man by the back of the neck, watched still as the man’s final scream cut off with an echoing  _ crunch.  _ Then, Mike turned and walked away. His heart raced in his chest, and hot blood flooded his veins. As he came to the end of the hall, he paused. The man had been dealt with, and Freddy would take care of the body, for now. Mike had to ensure the children got home safe and sound. 

He took a deep breath, and then another. His arms tingled with gooseflesh as the blood thirst dissipated. It was a strange, lightening feeling - Mike would dwell on it plenty, later. For the moment, however, he shook it off, plastered a smile on his face, and walked out to help reunite the twins and their parents. 


	22. Salvage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike is woken from sleep by the sound of animatronic distress. Sounds coming from the outside of his own house. Of course, he'd never have left if he'd had half an idea of who he would find.

For one blessed night, Mike was sleeping soundly. He was uninterrupted by dreams and tired enough to sleep deeply - he was on track to sleep straight through the night and wake up feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. So, of course, _something_ woke him up, instead. 

Mike was bleary and confused as he pushed himself up and sat there, trying to figure out what had woken him. It was storming outside - Mike could hear the shaking of the trees and the heavy rain on his window. But he didn't mind storms, in fact he found them soothing, so that probably wasn't it. But there was nothing else immediately out of place. His house was otherwise quiet, there was no leftover fear from a forgotten night terror, there was no indication of anything else that might have woken him so abruptly. 

Mike was just starting to lay down again when he heard it. It was a mechanical screeching - it pierced the air and sustained, making Mike grimace and cover his ears. It was coming from outside, but was so loud even the walls and storm didn't do much to muffle it. As Mike got to his feet - of course he had to investigate - the sound died off again. 

To most, the sound would have been reminiscent of an old car's mechanics, or something scraping along a cemented ground, or any one of many inanimate sounds that maybe should be checked out but could probably wait until morning. Mike, however, recognized something else in the sound. It was one he had thankfully never really heard, but he knew what it was all the same. 

It was the cry of an animatronic in distress. 

Mike didn't even pause to throw on a coat, he simply grabbed a flashlight and made his way outside into the pouring rain. It soaked through him quickly, but Mike barely noticed. His mind was running all sorts of terrifying scenarios. His worst fear was that something had happened at the Arcade, something that had driven one of his animatronics to come find him, stranding them in the rain. Which was not at all good for mechanical robots. 

Mike had paced a good ways around his house before he finally found them. When his light caught a flash of metal and Mike got a good look, his entire body stuttered to a halt at the sheer impossibility of the sight before him. 

It was an animatronic, all right. He had himself pushed up against the wall, as close as he could get, and one arm - the only one he had - was over his head, as if trying to shelter him from the rain. He was in rough shape, and was far from the shining toy he had once been. An arm wasn't the only thing missing - large swaths of his suit were gone, his bottom jaw was warped and crooked and hanging loose, one foot had been stripped of suit entirely, and one eye looked like glass - smashed in and splintered and no longer vividly green. His other eye - nearly as bright as Mike remembered - lit up in the glow of the flashlight. The animatronic stared up at Mike, who stared back as his pulse tried to stutter back to life. 

"H-h-h-heEEEE-" Mike grimaced as Toy Bonnie's stuttered word turned into another horrendous screech of distress. It carried on for a long second, then sputtered back out again, the noise of the rabbit's failing voice box reminiscent of a human choking. "puh, puh, puh," Toy Bonnie continued, and it took Mike a second to put it together. 

_Help._

"Not a fucking chance," Mike snarled, the moment finally catching up to him in a flood of fury and fear. "I don't know how you found me, but you can just sit here and rust." He shook his head and began to back away - not daring to turn his back on the animatronic, of course. There was no way in hell he was helping the rabbit - not after everything he'd caused. Besides, the toys were different - all anger, beyond help. Jeremy had said so. 

"P-p-pleaaAA-" Another screeching word, and Mike paused in place. If all of that were true, then why was the animatronic begging? A non-sentient robot full of rage wouldn't beg. 

"Stop it," Mike scolded himself sharply. The toys were clever and manipulative - Toy Bonnie most of all. Mike's missing bit of brain alone proved that to be true. Once he got close enough to help, Toy Bonnie would make him regret it. So it was best to go back inside and hope the rain finished the animatronic off. 

There was a bright spark somewhere in Toy Bonnie's exposed endoskeleton, and the rabbit let out another terrified screech. Mike watched as Toy Bonnie tucked further into himself, becoming as small as the rabbit could manage. He tried to hide himself from the unrelenting rain and the damage it was causing. Toy Bonnie looked small, scared, and absolutely pathetic. 

"Fuck," Mike swore. He hurried over to the animatronic without another thought and crouched at his side. Suddenly, he wished he _had_ brought his coat, if only to throw it over the rabbit for some small amount of damage control. "I can't lift you," Mike said, "you're going to have to walk at least a little on your own. Can you do that?" 

Toy Bonnie's arm shifted slightly and his eye peered at Mike again. Then, he nodded shortly. Mike nodded in return, tucked his flashlight away, and took a deep and bracing breath. Then, he tucked his shoulder up under Toy Bonnie's. 

"Here we go, then," Mike said as he began to stand and grunted slightly with the effort. Toy Bonnie's joints whirred and creaked as the rabbit did his best to hold his own weight and stand. It wasn't perfect - he was still leaned heavily against Mike, who shook with the effort of holding up an animatronic. But Toy Bonnie was able to support enough of his weight that it wasn't impossible. Slowly, carefully, the two staggered their way into the house. 

Once inside, it took all of Mike's effort to carefully lower Toy Bonnie to the floor. As soon as the rabbit didn't need the human's support anymore, Mike collapsed to the ground himself. He pushed back until he was leaned against the opposite wall and panted as he stared at the animatronic in front of him. 

He'd just found Toy Bonnie in his _yard._ He'd _helped_ the rabbit. And, now, the animatronic bane of Mike's existence was sitting in his house - broken, soaked, and sparking. And the rabbit - the animatronic who'd bit him, who was supposed to be all fury and danger - was staring at Mike with as much fear as the human felt himself. 

"You attack me, or try to bite me, or anything, and I'll bust a wall down just to get you back in the rain," Mike said sharply, "I mean it."

One of the rabbit's ears stood straight, then slumped. Toy Bonnie tried to say something, but when he only screeched again, he flinched just like Mike did. Then, he held up a hand, touched his pinky to his thumb, and gave Mike a three-fingered salute. It took Mike a second. 

"Are you _girl scout promising me_?" He asked in disbelief. The rabbit's ear jerked up again and he nodded eagerly. Mike stared at Toy Bonnie for a long few seconds, then sighed and began to climb back to his feet. 

"Alright then. Let me go get some towels, and let's get you dried off."


	23. Immortal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A robot can be immortal, as long as someone is caring for their mechanical parts. Humans, unfortunately, are not so lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Major character death (offscreen, non-violent)

Bonnie just wanted things to feel  _ okay  _ again. He wasn't sure how long grief was supposed to last, but he was good and tired of it. It'd been a long, long month, full of lots of quiet and lots of loneliness. Ness tried to be there for them - she and Luis both visited often, but it was never enough to ease the darkness. Instead, they simply shared in it as well. Ness, especially, seemed just as lost as the rest of them. Bonnie hated it - they had stayed for her, but none of them could manage to help her. Not even Freddy. Especially not Freddy. 

None of them had taken Mike's death well. It'd been a while coming, and happened as easily as any of them could ask for. He'd lived well beyond his expected lifespan, especially given what he'd gone through. He'd passed away quietly and in his sleep. And still, it'd hit them all hard. It'd all but destroyed them. 

Chica was quiet, but she kept making cardboard houses. Made more, maybe - although they weren't her usual, complex creations. Instead they were simple, easy - exactly as Mike used to make them. When Chica spoke, she tried to be cheerful. She tried to lift the mood, even while she drowned beneath her own grief. 

Foxy did his best to help - he was grumpy and snappish, but jolly pirate shanties sounded often from his cove. He also took it upon himself to try and keep the dust and dirt from settling on the restaurant. He'd never cleaned a day in his life - and now, he cleaned constantly. Even though the Arcade was closed, for the moment. 

Spring Bonnie kept to himself. It wasn't much of a change, the Golden rabbit had always been a bit introverted, even around his family. Still, he was seen out of his corner so infrequently that both Bonnie and Chica did their best to check on him often. Usually, they'd find him aimlessly pacing the smaller room. Sometimes he read, sometimes he stared into the far distance, and other times he pulled every book from the shelf and scattered them on the floor. Whether it was anger, or desperation for something to do, Bonnie wasn't sure. He didn't ask. 

Bonnie, himself, just felt wrong. Like he was walking with weights in his limbs and a dark cloud in his head. He didn't really want to do anything, but he tried to make himself do things anyway. Tried to strum his guitar - even if his songs sounded out of key. Tried to talk to his family - even if the other animatronics were difficult to talk to, sans Chica. Tried to do anything to keep his mind off their loss. He wouldn't let himself shut down. Not like Freddy. 

Freddy did nothing. Freddy - the leader, the one with a plan, the doer - stood still and silent. He was active, Bonnie could hear his mechanics whirring and clicking. His eyes were open. But otherwise, the bear stood on stage, and stared out at the door. Bonnie tried to get his attention - they all tried, at one point or another. Even Ness, who seemed particularly bothered by the bear's refusal to respond. Bonnie had reamed Freddy a new one, for that - or at least, had tried to. It was difficult to scold someone who gave no indication of listening. 

So when, one night, Bonnie heard a clatter from the dining room, he was very surprised to find Freddy already investigating by the time the rabbit got there. The bear had moved from the stage and was standing near a table, staring in concern at the mess of plates and hats on the floor. When Freddy realized Bonnie had arrived, he looked at the rabbit and lifted a finger in a shushing gesture. Confused, Bonnie nodded and, taking the cue from Freddy, turned to watch. 

The next clatter came from the prize counter, where an entire row of stuffed animals and plastic toys were knocked to the ground, seemingly out of nowhere. Shortly after, one of the plastic toys was whipped into the glass of the counter, breaking but not quite shattering it. Things went still again - up until the curtain of the main stage was suddenly whipped about as if in a whirlwind, just before being pulled off its pole entirely. Then, it crumbled and twisted on the ground - not unlike if someone was stuck beneath it and trying desperately to escape. 

"Okay, okay, that's quite enough," Freddy rumbled - startling Bonnie, who hadn't heard the bear's voice in weeks. At his voice, the curtain stilled, except for the occasional twitch. With a soft chuckle, Freddy walked for the stage, up to the curtain, and crouched beside it, as best as his joints would let him. 

"It's alright. You are doing just fine. You can hear me, yes?" Freddy spoke to the curtain, while Bonnie watched on, bemused and not quite understanding what, exactly, he was seeing. As if in response to Freddy's question, the curtain twitched - then began to rustle and tangle, as if getting worked up all over again. 

"Hush now, hush, you must calm yourself," Freddy soothed, "I know it must be terrifying, but listen to my voice. If you can hear me now, you will have control of yourself very soon. For now, focus on me. Can you do that?" The curtain stilled again, and then another small twitch. "Very good, thank you, Mike. I will do my best to keep talking, you just focus on me."

Bonnie stared in shock as Freddy continued on, giving the -  _ whatever  _ \- instructions on how to free themselves from the curtain. On some level, Bonnie suddenly understood, but it was as if his CPU had lagged and refused to catch up. 

"Mike?" He asked, his voice box whirring harshly as he spoke. Freddy glanced towards him and nodded, and at that look, Bonnie approached slowly. As he did, he began to register it - there was a familiar, cold feeling in the air. Unusual because, generally, the animatronics could not feel temperature. But there was something about spirits that changed that. They had often been cold, when the children had still been around. And now, the air near the stage held that same, brisk freeze. A spirit. 

And Freddy thought it was Mike. 

"Very good," Freddy continued. He stood and held out a hand. "Are you still here? Can you touch my hand?" He waited a moment, then his ears twitched, and he curled his hand in slightly. "There you are. Well done. Bonnie is here too, Mike. Bonnie?" 

"Mike?" Bonnie asked again. He walked over to stand next to Freddy, who reached with his other hand and lifted up Bonnie's own. Taking the hint, Bonnie opened his hand and held it out and waited, ears perked forward to catch any sound. When he felt the chill of a spirit settle against his hand, he felt like crying. Likely he would have, if animatronics could. As Freddy had, Bonnie curled his hand around it. 

"It's really good to see you again," Bonnie said softly. 

"He has likely been here all of this time," Freddy said, "but it will take him time to get strong. We are here, though, Mike. We will do whatever we can to help you."

The others were as surprised and relieved as Bonnie and Freddy had been. They agreed as a unit that Mike's ghostly presence would stay a secret between them, at least until - perhaps, if - he grew strong enough to show the humans. But even his soft presence - the flitting cold, the occasional flinging of objects - was enough to lighten the mood of the Arcade. The gloom that had been following them for a month dispersed, and they truly felt like a cohesive family unit once more. 

One night, while Bonnie was trying to tune his guitar, he felt the cold approach and settle nearby. The rabbit smiled, but kept his eyes on his guitar, concentrating on trying to turn one of the pegs with his massive fingers. 

"I don't think that's the right one," a familiar voice suddenly spoke at his side. Startled, Bonnie looked - only to see the nearly-transparent, wispy outline of Mike. Of what Bonnie could make out, it was Mike as he had stood decades ago. The young man who Bonnie had watched stand between bloodthirsty animatronics and two helpless kids. The Mike who had all but sacrificed himself and, in doing so, had earned Bonnie's respect. 

Bonnie wondered if that were truly the form he'd been given, or chosen, or if it was affected by Bonnie's memories. He decided, in the end, it didn't matter. Mike's spirit had been the same in all the years they knew each other - it didn't matter what it looked like now. 

"This is a lot harder than you made it look," Bonnie answered, "do you know how long it's been since I've tuned this old thing myself?" 

"Your fingers are too big for it," Mike responded, giving the rabbit a crooked grin, "just have Ness do it, huh?" 

"I haven't been able to get myself to care much about it," Bonnie admitted, looking at the guitar, "this is the first time I've bothered to do anything about the tuning in a while."

"Oh Bon," Mike said, even in this form the words were full of the warmth with which he always said their names. The spirit moved closer and settled down, sitting against Bonnie's side. The physical sensation was cold - but the feeling that blossomed in Bonnie was warm. 

"You don't have to be sad anymore," Mike continued, "Did you really think I'd leave you guys? Silly bunny. I'm not going anywhere."


	24. Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night Guards are dangerous adults. The animatronics are protecting future children by getting rid of them - but what is a rabbit to do when faced with a Night Guard willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of a couple of children?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Wounded character, very brief graphic imagery.
> 
> AKA: Bonnie's POV the night he decided Mike was someone who deserved protection.

Bonnie looked into the tiny office, half expecting to once again find the pretend Freddy sitting in the Night Guard's seat. It was all very silly - every one of them knew full well that it was just the Night Guard beneath that mask. Or, at least, Bonnie and his friends did. Apparently the Toy's actually believed it was another animatronic. 

Well, they'd never been especially smart. 

While the old animatronics might know it was just a mask, it was difficult to overcome their programming, and the programming insisted that the mask meant  _ not a threat.  _ It was frustrating, but hardly the end of the world. The Night Guard would be too slow, one day. Then they'd have him, and this whole game would be over. 

At least, until the humans brought in a new guard. 

When Bonnie stepped into the office, only to find it empty, he was surprised. The Night Guard had certainly been there - they had heard him walk through the halls earlier that night. So where had he gone? Had one of the others managed to get him, after all? There had been no screaming, and the humans always screamed - still, Bonnie supposed it wasn't impossible. The other explanation - that the Night Guard left the office - was not worth considering. This Night Guard was not especially brave, and would not risk the danger posed by venturing past the animatronics. Not even for the slaughter of children. 

The humans usually waited to do  _ that  _ until the daylight came, anyway. 

There was nothing for it, the guard was nowhere to be seen in the small office. Bonnie supposed he would have to see if any of the others had managed to kill the human. The rabbit turned to leave the office and, as he did, he heard a sudden, horrifying sound - the sobbing of a child. 

Immediately distracted, Bonnie made his way towards the sound, tracking it down the hall and, eventually, to the prize room. It was there that he saw a scene he would never forget, not for the many, many years he would yet be in service. 

The toy animatronics had the Night Guard backed against the wall. But he was not cowering, or crying, or begging. Rather, he was standing in front of the animatronics, his arms spread wide, forming a barrier between them and the two terrified children behind him. 

"Leave them alone," the Night Guard said, his voice shaky but angry, "they're just kids, you can't hurt them. You jerks don't hurt kids, right?!" 

"T-that one's n-no child," Toy Bonnie responded, even as he took an aggressive step closer to the group of humans. Bonnie looked towards the 'not a child,' and immediately disagreed. The terrified teenager, now clutching the much younger girl close, was still a child. A scared, crying child - but so close to the cusp that, clearly, the toys could not tell the difference. 

The toy animatronics continued to taunt the guard, and it was getting to him. Bonnie's eyesight was not what it used to be, but even so he could see the way the human trembled, the way his eyes darted between the three toys. He was terrified, he was staring death in the face, and still he kept his body between the animatronics and the children. 

It was the first time Bonnie had ever really bothered to get a good look at the night guard, himself. Had he always looked so young? 

The guard turned slightly to say something to the children. Something passed between the humans that Bonnie couldn't hear. Then, he watched as the guard braced himself, lifted his 'weapons' - a flashlight and a crowbar - and began to scream. 

Bonnie had to look away - the flashing light and loud noises made his CPU stutter alarmingly. When Bonnie saw the two young humans run past him and into the hall, he understood what had happened. Sure enough, when he looked towards the room again, there was the night guard. He'd run at the animatronics, had distracted them so the children could flee, and had sacrificed himself in the act. It hadn't been long, but already the toys had him in their grasps. Something cracked, the sound of it rippled through the air. The toys would surely rip the human apart, spill his guts upon the ground, and it'd be the end of yet another night guard. Bonnie should be pleased - it was one less adult in the world. 

One less very young adult. 

One less human willing to put themselves at risk to protect the weaker. 

The Night Guard wasn't screaming anymore. 

So Bonnie screamed for him. The rabbit let out the highest screech his shattered voice box could manage and shoved his way into the room. It had the intended effect - the toys flinched, surprised by his appearance and thrown off by the loud noise. They let go of the Night Guard, who fell limp to the ground with a crack that made Bonnie internally flinch. Bonnie held himself as tall as he could stand - taller than any of the toys - and continued screeching at them. They stared at him, and he could see the contemplation - they considered ganging up to take him down. In the end, though, Bonnie's intimidation got to them, and they slunk away, joints clicking and grinding as they left. Bonnie made sure they were gone, waited to make sure they wouldn't come back, and then finally turned to the injured human. 

He seemed even smaller now. 

Carefully, Bonnie leaned down and scooped the man up. It was a slow process - he stopped whenever the guard made a noise, which was often. At least it meant he was still alive. 

Of course, once Bonnie had the man carefully cradled to him, he paused again. He was no human doctor, they had no tools or first aid essentials beyond a few bandaids. There was nothing Bonnie could do to fix the Night Guard, short of stuffing him somewhere and hoping his spirit stuck around. But, no…that wasn't the right answer, either. Not yet. The selfless human deserved a shot to keep living. There wasn't a lot Bonnie could do, but he could at least keep the guard safe until morning, when hopefully another human would show up and help. 

And so, that was what Bonnie did. He carried the Night Guard to the Parts and Services room, settled down into his usual spot, and held the human close. Bonnie did his best to soothe the guard whenever he cried, or whimpered - it was difficult, when nothing but static came from his voice box. Still, it usually seemed to work, at least for a little while. It helped that the human didn't wake. 

There were questions, when Freddy, Chica, and Foxy found their way back to the room. There were choppy, screeching words and hand movements and grunts. Bonnie couldn't tell them the whole story, but he made one thing clear - the guard had his protection, now, and he wouldn't let any of the others hurt him. Not them, not the toys, and not even the Marionette. 

Bonnie needn't have worried, though. Unlike the toys, his friends could be reasoned with. They didn't entirely understand, but they agreed to help him, anyway. So it was settled that, not just that evening, but for as long as the Night Guard worked there, they - the old and the broken - would protect him. 

Bonnie propped the human against the wall just before the daytime programming would drive the animatronics back to their resting places. Bonnie didn't want to let go, he worried that the human would perish without someone holding him to earth. But no other human would come near them, if the guard was tucked in the arms of an animatronic. And a human was what the guard needed if he had any chance of survival. 

It was the owner who eventually appeared. Bonnie watched, still and leaned against the wall himself, as the older man paced around the Night Guard. He looked the young man over, felt his pulse, and paced some more. His eyes drifted towards Bonnie, at one point, and the rabbit wanted to grab the man and shake him. Couldn't he see how badly the younger human was injured? It'd already been so long, why was he wasting precious time now?

Thankfully, finally, the owner crouched in front of the night guard and, with some doing, woke him up. There was some back and forth, mostly heavily veiled threats from the owner, but then he was helping the guard get to his feet, and they were walking away, and maybe the night guard would be okay, after all. 

When the man turned his head slightly and looked right at Bonnie, the rabbit lit the pinpoints that made up his eyes just a little brighter. The man didn't seem to understand the meaning, but Bonnie wasn't bothered. 

The human would understand soon enough. 


	25. Easter Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trauma runs deep, and Ness isn't prepared for such an unexpected trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic Attack
> 
> Also, SPOILERS for Family Hutch, if you haven't read or finished it!
> 
> Happy belated Easter?

It started off as an average Saturday morning. Ness, having been bit by a shopping bug, had gone to the mall, and had spent a half hour or so wandering the shops. She hadn't really found much to buy, but just the act of looking was therapeutic. She was alone - something she'd done more and more as time separated her and the time spent with Malhare. It wasn't easy for her to be alone - everyone, including herself and her therapist, doubted it would ever be  _ easy.  _ But it was, at least, getting  _ easier.  _ Which meant that, hopefully, if she kept at it, eventually she'd be that much closer to being able to function as a completely independent adult again. Something like the mall was easier than being home alone - taking actions, like walking and shopping, combined with being around a lot of people helped keep her mind off of the shadows and the silence where her demons roamed. 

Easter was growing near, and Ness loved to see all the pastel decorations and candies. Sure, the rabbit imagery was a little rough, but not insurmountable - Ness spent a lot of time around the Bonnie's, after all, specifically to avoid being afraid of  _ bunnies  _ for the rest of her life. Besides, it was hard to be too triggered by things that were edible, and most of the imagery was so cute that it was leagues and leagues apart from Malhare. 

Ness felt pretty good that day over all, actually. She felt as if she were walking lightly, as if it weren't too hard to keep her head up and shoulders back. She felt a little jittery, sure, but it was easy enough to ignore it and distract herself. The texts passing between her and Luis helped, too. 

And then, Ness turned a corner towards the center of the mall. There was a gathering of people there, and most of them were waiting in a line with their cheerful, chattering children. The kids were excited, because it was one of their favorite times of the year. 

Time for pictures with the Easter Bunny. 

Ness froze in place when she caught sight of the human-sized rabbit. The costume was completely average - pure white, accented by a range of pastel colors, and sporting exaggerated hands and feet. The cartoonish eyes were big and wide and vividly blue, not to mention highlighted by comically large eyelashes. It looked ridiculous, inviting, and absolutely nothing like Malhare. 

Ness couldn't breathe. 

She'd been able to breath just a second ago, so why was it suddenly so hard? She put a shaking hand against her chest, and tried again, but the mediocrum of air that passed into her lungs did nothing to soothe her. Distantly, she heard the sound of rustling plastic and a thump against the ground. She glanced down and realized that her bags were on the floor - how had they gotten there? Hadn't she been holding them? 

"Hey, are you alright?" Someone asked. Ness looked around her, trying to spot the person they were talking to. Was someone hurt? No, she realized, the stranger had been talking to  _ her.  _ The stranger was looking at her - a lot of people, suddenly, were looking at her. Shivering, Ness nodded, then shook her head, and then took a step back. When she caught sight of the Easter Bunny again and realized they, too, were looking at her, something snapped. Forgetting about her purchases entirely, Ness turned and ran. 

Ness ran for a while, ignoring the occasional alarmed call or question. Her senses were flooded with her own pounding heart and swimming vision. She didn't even really recognize when she stopped - nor when she curled in on herself, tucked her head between her knees, and sat there for a long time. 

Her thoughts started to right themselves, eventually. Her inability to breathe, the pounding of her heart - she began to recognize those things for what they were. Panic. She'd panicked. She'd been taught methods for that - something about seeing things. Or smelling things. Or - fingers. She was supposed to start with her fingers. Trembling so badly she missed, at first, Ness lifted her head and began to press the fingers of her hands against each other, one at a time. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. Thumb. Repeat, over and over until, finally, she began to calm, little by little. Next was to - what could she smell? B.O., she realized with a grimace. Dirty socks and sweat. Next, feel - she could feel things digging against her arms. She realized she had found her way to a locker room, of all things, and was currently sitting pressed into a corner, a locker on each side of her. That explained the smell. 

Ness was sitting on the floor of a mall locker room. She groaned softly and rubbed at her forehead, everything catching up with her all at once. She'd seen a person dressed as the Easter Bunny, had a panic attack, run like a maniac through the mall, and had ended up curled in a ball on the floor of a mall locker room. 

It was time to go home. 

Ness climbed to her feet, and was surprised to find that, even after realizing what had happened, she still felt awful. She was trembling, her muscles felt heavy and weak, and her heart was still thudding uneasily in her ears. Swallowing hard, Ness slipped her phone from her pocket and, after a second of fighting with herself, sent a text to Luis. 

_ Can you come pick me up?  _

* * *

"We can go back and pick up your car later tonight, if you want. Or we can wait until tomorrow. How's that sound?" Luis asked, glancing briefly away from the road and over to Ness. She had her head leaned against the car window and was watching the road go by. She felt tired and worn - it was nothing like what it'd been, when her very essence was being drained away, but it was still a distinctly unsettling feeling after what had already happened. 

"Okay," Ness answered. It wasn't much of an answer, she knew it even as she said it, but Luis just nodded and didn't press the issue any further. They drove in silence for a little while before he spoke again. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked her. Ness didn't answer right away. The truth was, she actually did - but even the thought of it had her face warming. Now that the moment had passed and she was caught in the aftermath, she couldn't help but feel mortified. It'd been the  _ Easter Bunny _ of all things. It'd been a real life human in a suit that was nothing at all like the digitized rabbit. They weren't even shaped the same, beyond sharing ears and paws. 

"It's stupid," Ness answered instead. 

"It's not," Luis replied immediately, "If whatever happened was enough to send you into a panic attack, than it definitely wasn't stupid." Another few heartbeats passed. 

"It was the Easter Bunny," Ness muttered, immediately hiding her face in her hands, "I saw someone dressed like the Easter Bunny. For pictures or whatever. And then I just - I don't know. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't hardly think. And then suddenly I was sitting on the floor of a locker room. The damn Easter Bunny, Luis."

"Shit," Luis breathed. He reached out and pried one of Ness's hands away from her face. Once he had it, he gave it a squeeze. With a heavy sigh, Ness dropped her other hand back to her lap. "Ness, that's not stupid at all. Not even a little. Fears aren't usually rational, but damn, I think that's about as close as it gets."

"Is it?" Ness asked, looking over at him, "It doesn't  _ feel  _ rational. It feels…dumb."

"You don't even look in the mirror, because you're afraid to so much as  _ think _ you see his face," Luis told her, his voice soft, "and then, without warning, you see something that's just like him - sure, it looked a little different, but it boils down to the same thing, right? A human in a rabbit costume. I think it makes total sense that seeing that would trigger the same fear." He paused, and waited, but Ness just chewed at the inside of her lip and crushed his hand a little tighter. 

"Try not to beat yourself up, okay? Maybe think about bringing it up with Julie at your next appointment. But, hey, anyone who knew your story wouldn't even think twice about this. No one's going to judge you," Luis gripped Ness's hand a little tighter, "I definitely don't."

Ness took a breath, and looked back outside for a little while. She still thought it was dumb - but she couldn't deny that it was a relief to know Luis didn't think so. And she guessed he did have a point - different or not, the Easter Bunny and Malhare were the same concept. 

"Thanks," Ness said after a bit. After another awkward second of quiet, she forced a short laugh. "Can't wait for Easter to be over - I like going to the mall."

"Just wear a pair of blinders next time," Luis answered, throwing her a grin to show he was joking. With a loosening of her chest, Ness found herself laughing for real at that. She shoved her shoulder slightly against his and gave him a mock glare. 

"Oh ha ha, very funny," she said, which only made him grin even more. 

"I know," He answered cheerfully, "hey, I was thinking tacos tonight. The real deal. You up for it?" 

Ness's stomach was still in knots, and in that moment she couldn't have eaten if she tried. Still, she recognized the topic for what it was. And she did like tacos - maybe by dinner, she'd be ready to eat. 

"That sounds great," she answered


	26. Prompt: Switcharoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy Afton thinks he's brave. He thinks he can handle the night shift at Freddy's, now that he's older and braver. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what he's wandered into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another AU that's totally non-canon to the story. In this universe, Jeremy has once again survived Fredbear.

Twenty-two year old Jeremy Afton had just arrived for his first shift of his new job. His first thought on entering the building was that his younger self would have passed out at the sheer terrifying ambiance of Freddy's after hours. Only a few base lights were on, casting shadows into most of the restaurant's corners and many of its other spaces. 

Thankfully, Jeremy was considerably braver these days. He pulled his 'Fazbear Entertainment Official Flashlight' - he couldn't even think the name without scoffing - from his belt and clicked it on. It helped a little, but mostly served to highlight some of the restaurant's worst qualities. Stains on the floor, a small scattering of bugs, an overturned cup. Between all of that and the rumors, Jeremy wondered if they were even _trying_ to stay in business. 

Deciding the restaurant's cleanliness was hardly his problem, Jeremy turned his light to the stars of the show. Three of them stood together on stage - still and quiet in the dead of night. Jeremy could vaguely remember them - but only just. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. He knew the three - four, really, since there was Foxy too - had been introduced in some capacity back in the days of Fredbear's, but he had also been all of five years old and traumatized and, so, didn't remember much beyond their existence. Even so, they had clearly seen better days. Much like the restaurant, it was clear that sanitation wasn't high on Faz Ent's to-do list, even for their animatronics. Even from a distance and in piss-poor lighting, Jeremy could see the occasional staining on their fur. 

Taking a deep breath, Jeremy moved closer to the stage. As he did, he had to crane his neck up to keep getting a good look at the animatronics. His heart rate kicked up a few notches as he did, and he didn't stay there long before moving on. He wasn't the same terrified little boy he had once been - he knew now that what had happened to him had been an accident. Fredbear hadn't _bitten_ down - he had just been an animatronic who had malfunctioned at the worst possible second. The animatronics didn't have it out for anyone - they just _were._

That didn't stop Jeremy from walking away from the stage with pinpricks along his arms, though. His light found the smaller, closed curtain next. He bypassed that one entirely. Some memories of the past were best left unawakened, after all. 

Jeremy made his way for the little security office tucked into the back of the restaurant. It was tiny - even more so in the dark. There was only just enough room for one person, and even then Jeremy wouldn't be able to move far while sitting in his chair. Still, it had everything he needed. Cameras, a way to control the cameras, a desk he could probably eat on if he felt like taking that risk. Even giant, metal doors he could bring down - he'd asked about those, and management's answer had been vague and not really an answer at all. Jeremy had to assume it was a last ditch security effort in case of a violent break-in. Which was good, he supposed. 

Jeremy clicked on the fan - the office was a bit stuffy - then settled back into his chair. Idly, he began to flip through the cameras to get a feel for the place - it looked different through the camera lens. The bright, red-faced clock on the desk flipped over to Midnight, and immediately the phone on the desk began to rang. It was a loud and jarring sound, and Jeremy jumped violently at its noise. He slipped the phone from the receiver and put it to his ear. 

"Hello?" He asked. 

"Uh, Hello, hello!" A man's voice answered. 

"Uh, h-" Before Jeremy could continue, the man was speaking again - and a second later, he revealed that the call was actually just a recording. Which was…different, but it made sense in a way. Why waste money having to pay two employees, when one can just leave some recordings for training purposes? 

"Have they ever thoroughly bleached a carpet in the life of this place?" Jeremy asked dryly as the man on the phone read off the disclaimer, "cause it sure doesn't look like it." And, of course, the disclaimer itself was especially unnerving - but Jeremy supposed a place like this had to prevent lawsuits wherever it could. 

"The characters do tend to wander a bit," the man on the phone said, catching Jeremy's attention, "Uh, they're left in some kind of free-roam mode at night…" Jeremy listened in growing horror as the man explained why, exactly, that free-roaming thing was an issue. Jeremy could, in fact, very clearly imagine what having animatronic parts through his head might be like, because that was basically what had happened to him. 

It was a downhill slope from there. The first time Jeremy saw that Bonnie was gone from the stage, he knew without a doubt that this was no cruel prank. Everything he'd ever thought as a child - that the animatronics were alive and wanted to hurt him - proved to be real. These animatronics _were_ alive and they very much wanted to hurt him. At least he had some level of protection - draining power and metal doors, but still, it was better than nothing. 

It was around four in the morning when the sudden sound of rapid, echoing tapping filled the air. Alarmed, Jeremy flipped through the cameras - only just managing to spot Foxy running past one. 

The fox was sprinting down the hallway, towards Jeremy's door. Alarmed, Jeremy flung himself at the button - but the fox was there before Jeremy could slam the door down. Jeremy screamed in terror as the fox flung himself into the room. The human tried to correct his own course, but he was already at the door. For a heartbeat, he met the uncovered, golden eye of Foxy - and then the fox reached out and grasped the human around his throat. 

Jeremy's scream cut off almost immediately as the animatronic's paw crushed his windpipe in its grasp. Jeremy grabbed at the metallic claw, even as Foxy lifted the human off of his feet and pulled him closer to the animatronic muzzle. Foxy's eye stayed glued on Jeremy and he opened his mouth, revealing rows of sharp, pointed teeth. Jeremy struggled and gasped and, though no sound escaped him, tears poured in rivets down his cheeks. How had it come to this? It was supposed to be an easy job - a big middle finger to the terrified child he had once been. And now he was going to die. 

Hydraulics pumped, the mouth closed, and Jeremy couldn't even scream. 

* * *

Foxy dropped the limp body of the Night Guard to the ground, barely paying attention to the sickening thump. He lifted his hooked arm and rubbed it across his muzzle, looking at the blood that came away with distaste. It'd been messier than usual, but he hadn't been able to help it. _Biting_ had just seemed like the right choice. 

The ghost inside of him was agitated - that wasn't a surprise, really. The lad had never had the same bloodthirst as the other children. As the other animatronics. Not even as Foxy himself. He had a weaker stomach for such things, but he would settle with time. It was for his good as well as all children - this was one less adult in the world. 

Foxy turned to go and do his best to get himself cleaned up when he was hit with a sudden wave of fierce sorrow. The animatronic paused, grumbled softly to himself. Opened his maw to scold the child out loud - but paused when a name zapped through his mind. 

" _Jeremy_!" The child sharing Foxy wailed. And with his wail came images, memories - a small lad, smaller even than Foxy's, who looked up to his brother but was shunned. A very young child begging and crying for his brother to just be nice, to understand. A happier memory, of the two boys, both younger still, sitting on a bed, laughing as they read a book together. The brother - the very same lad inside of Foxy - turning away from his little sibling. Glee, as Foxy - no, the ghost - and his friends lifted the little boy up, up to Fredbear's mouth. Meanwhile the boy cried, and screamed, and flailed. 

Much like he had flailed in Foxy's grasp. 

Foxy didn't have a heart, but he swore he could feel it drop all the same as he turned to look at the body on the ground. The sight of it sent another wail through the ghost child. With a shudder and feeling like being dunked in ice, Foxy found his limbs and joints going still. He could only watch as the ghost boy formed in front of him. He was just as Foxy remembered, just the same as the day he'd begged his father for his life, but had ended up inside of Foxy all the same. He was older than the others' children, with a tear streaked face and badly mussed hair. He was older - but he was a child all the same, and Foxy felt fiercely sorry that'd he'd accidentally hurt the boy. 

" _Jeremy, I'm so sorry,"_ Mike said, crying as he fell to transparent knees at his brother's side. " _Jeremy, please wake up!_ " 

He won't wake, Foxy thought to himself. He couldn't say the words - when the children were so visible, the animatronics found it difficult to move - but he could think them. And Mike must have heard something, because he lifted his head with a sniff and turned it to look at Foxy. Foxy could feel the balefulness of his state, and tried to convey his own apology in return. 

_"You killed him,"_ Mike accused, standing up and turning to walk back to Foxy. Because no matter his sorrow or anger, where else was he to go? Foxy didn't know what kept the children here all this time, but he doubted it'd let up anytime soon. Warmth flooded through his wires and joints as Mike returned to his nestled spot inside of their shared mind and body. 

"Aye, and I'm sorry fer it," Foxy responded, once he was able, "truly, lad. I didn't know."

The spirit inside of him shivered. Mike may have returned to Foxy, but he was not appeased. His ghostly heart was breaking, and instead of responding, he began to wail again. Real tears, this time - they poured down metaphorical cheeks and filled Foxy's metaphorical soul. The animatronic gave a great shudder himself, and lifted his hand and hook to hold on to his head. The child's emotions only grew wilder, and Foxy knew what was to come. Decided it wasn't worth fighting - they wouldn't hurt _his_ family, and it was easier for the child to feel nothing than to suffer. Easier for Foxy to feel fury rather than the child's pain. And so, Foxy let it come. 

With a snarl not unlike that of a real animal, Foxy's eyes shrunk to pinpoints as he lost himself to the uncontrollable fury. As his mind faded entirely, he had one last thought. He hoped that Freddy would take care of the body before they came to and maybe, just maybe, the ghostly child inside would forget this had ever happened. 


	27. Prompt: Miketrap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, William bites off more than he can chew when he comes to destroy the animatronics.
> 
> Unfortunately, so does Mike.
> 
> Tw: Blood, gore, and major character death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was uploaded once already - but I wasn't happy with it. So I did some edits, and am uploading it for real now. This is an alternative path for the chapter in Runs in the Family, in which William comes to destroy the animatronics.

Alarmed, Mike launched to his feet and lunged towards William and Freddy. He wasn't even sure exactly who he was trying to stop until he was facing down William, arms outstretched to either side. His father didn't even slow, just gave Mike that same smug look and lifted the chainsaw. He had a mission - and apparently he would run Mike through to complete it. 

But the pain Mike felt wasn't that of a chainsaw going through him. Instead, something hit him _hard_ , throwing him against the wall with enough force that he fell to the ground, stunned. He looked out with blurry eyes and stared at the great, furry brown hand that lay in front of him - disconnected from its owner. Freddy had thrown him out of the way - protected him - and it had cost the bear any upper hand he might have had over William. 

Just like Bonnie, Freddy was torn into pieces. The chainsaw barely even got hung up in the electronics - it ripped through Freddy in easy strokes. 

If Mike didn't do something, the others would all meet the same fate. He pushed himself to his feet, using the wall as a brace. It was slow, and every movement hurt, but eventually he was on his feet, panting as he glared towards his grinning father. 

"Trying to protect your toys, Mikey? Well come on then," William's grin widened as he hefted the chainsaw up in clear threat, waiting for Mike to charge. But tempting as it was, Mike stayed where he was. His head was pounding, his whole body hurt - he was no match for William. Especially not if the animatronics couldn't even touch him. 

Something was shuffling down the hall. Chica would be there soon. Maybe, just maybe, if Mike could give her surprise help - his eyes went to the doorway nearby. The safe room. 

Spring Bonnie. 

Mike turned and went for it, just as Chica crested the hallway. As his father was sufficiently distracted, though Mike didn't want to imagine with what, Mike made his way to the room. 

"Mike! What's going on?" Spring Bonnie asked, as soon as he could see him. "What's all that noise?" 

"He's hurting them," Mike said, surprised to hear his voice come out a whine, "he's hurting them, you've gotta help - how do I fix you out of suit mode?" 

He moved closer to the rabbit and all but fell to his knees as he reached forward to do as Spring Bonnie quickly directed. But he found, to his horror, that the mechanisms were stiff and rusted. They wouldn't budge, and although Spring Bonnie thought the hand crank might help, Mike had no clue where it might even be, if it was still even in the restaurant. 

His friends were dying. 

"I'm getting in," Mike bit out, already sliding his hands inside of the rabbit. Spring Bonnie's slightly functional ear twitched. 

"Mike, no!" He exclaimed, "it's dangerous! You could get hurt - really hurt!" 

"Please," Mike begged, pausing to look up at the rabbit, "Spring, please, he's killing them - I have to stop him. _We_ can stop him. Please."

"The suit won't latch right," Spring Bonnie replied, his voice soft. 

"Will it be steady enough to use?" 

"Yes." Spring Bonnie paused, his ear twitching again. "Go slowly, try not to bump anything. Be careful, please. Please, Mike."

Mike nodded, and although the time was excruciating, he did as Spring Bonnie had asked. He moved carefully, kept his limbs and fingers and head as clear from any metallic bits as he could. And although it felt as if it took ages - even though Mike knew he was already too late to save his friends - eventually, he was standing. _They_ were standing, Mike safely tucked away inside of Spring Bonnie. 

The rabbit was old and disused - but even so, the way the mechanics pressed against Mike's body bolstered and stabilized him. He moved an arm experimentally, surprised to find just how _strong_ he felt, the way the mechanical body made every movement stronger. More controlled. They were not as weak as Mike, but not as strong as an animatronic - they were leveraged somewhere between. 

It would have to be enough. 

They stalked William - he'd finished his job, had left their friends scattered on the floor, and now seemed to be looking for more. Perhaps his thirst had been wet and he was looking to finish Mike off as well. Perhaps he was looking for some secret only he knew. They didn't know - but it didn't matter. 

They found him in another hallway. They found him, and they were on him before he even knew they were there. 

It was thrilling - for a brief moment in time, Mike almost understood. No, he couldn't imagine the gut-wrenching look of mortal terror on the face of a child, he couldn't imagine enjoying _that_. But seeing the look on William's face - on the face of the man that had ruined Mike's life, had ruined Spring Bonnie's life, had ruined the lives of countless families. 

Well. That felt pretty damn good. 

It was quick. They couldn't afford to make it slow, satisfying though it might have been. They had him in their grasp, and all it took was a quick twist. The chainsaw fell to the ground - it was followed shortly by William's broken body. As one, they stood and stared down at the man. A monster, a boogeyman, a father who at times seemed larger than life. 

Nothing more than another corpse, now. 

"You should get out, now," Spring Bonnie spoke after a few minutes had passed. Mike was startled - had been so caught up in everything that he'd almost forgotten Spring Bonnie was there entirely. He had to get out - that was right. Spring Bonnie's body was dangerous. They'd done what Mike had set out to do, now it was time to give the rabbit his body back. 

"Carefully," Spring Bonnie warned as Mike carefully shifted. He slowed down at the admonishment, began to shift backward. It should be as easy as getting in - they hadn't been able to latch the suit, after all. 

The only warning was a soft and sudden 'tick.' Mike didn't know much about the suits - but instinctively, he knew that was a bad sound. 

It happened suddenly. The tick became a barrage of gunshots, and then there was pain. It was agonizing - as if every nerve Mike had was on fire, but dunked in ice, but also severed all at the same time. He screamed - he could feel the sound ripping feral and uncontrolled out of his throat. Out of his lungs. His punctured, burning lungs. His punctured, severed throat. 

The only blessing was that it was quick. Something - multiple somethings - punctured the human's brain, promptly dumping him into an eternal black. 

* * *

Spring Bonnie's grief was so strong that he wailed with it. It infused every blood-stained wire in his body, every bone-infused joint. He couldn't cry tears, but he could still cry - he could wail and gnash and seize. He couldn't vomit - but he could rip and tear at himself. He could puncture and pull in every desperate attempt to rescue his friend from his own body. 

But there was no rescue. His friend was already dead. 

Spring Bonnie was alone. 

He was alone for a long time before anyone came looking. A single lone man came, eventually. He came, and he saw, and he collapsed to the ground and sobbed his own wails into his hands. He cried for the lost human - both of them, in their own ways. 

Spring Bonnie could not bring himself to comfort the human. 

Henry wanted to take Mike away. Spring Bonnie could see it in the way Henry stared at him, eyes wet with tears. He could see it in the small movements the man made towards them. He could feel it in Henry's desperate, searching hands, as they plunged into Spring Bonnie's body and searched. 

Spring Bonnie felt bad for snapping at Henry, then. The man threw himself back and stared in sheer terror at the rabbit, and when Spring Bonnie noted the blood dripping down Henry's head, he felt regret. But it was minimal - a scratch from the rabbit's teeth, not a true bite. Henry climbed to his feet and squeezed his hands together, swallowing hard. 

"Spring Bonnie, he deserves a funeral -" 

"You can't have him," Spring Bonnie snapped back, his regret all at once gone. "He's my friend, and I won't let you take him from me!" 

"He deserves -" 

"All of his friends are _here_!" Spring Bonnie all but roared. "He might have cared for you, but his _family_ is here. He stays with me! He stays with us! You. Can't. Have. Him!" 

Henry stared at Spring Bonnie for a long time, the fear never quite leaving his face. But something else moved in with it - a deep, weary sorrow. An understanding. And, eventually, he nodded. 

"You're right," Henry said quietly, almost as if he were talking more to himself than to Spring Bonnie. "Of course you're right. I'm sorry. He stays - here, with his family. With you. Of course. I'm sorry."

Spring Bonnie nodded, satisfied. And, then, he felt a reluctant pity. 

"He'll be safe with me. I'll always watch out for him," Spring Bonnie said. Henry's eyes were distant when he nodded his agreement. 

"Of course you will."

* * *

Henry didn't come back. Spring Bonnie wasn't sure if he'd expected the human to, or not. He wasn't sure how he felt about the abandonment - but was it really abandonment? Spring Bonnie was a memory of worse times. Mike was there - but he wasn't really. It was just a body. Who would want to be reminded constantly of their failure? It hurt Spring Bonnie - and he thought it must hurt Henry, too. 

The lights failed, eventually. The building became dark, and then it became dusty, and then it became old. Spring Bonnie was alone - stuck in a darkness broken only by his own thoughts and the scattered parts of Mike's family. In that darkness, Spring Bonnie's grief twisted and mutated. His thoughts became scattered and broken - until they weren't thoughts anymore, just feelings. The grief hummed underneath, but mostly he felt anger - all encompassing rage. 

He was not broken, any longer. With the body inside he could move, and so he did. He stood and he raged and he ripped at the walls - destroying his delicate fingers. He wanted to destroy more. He wanted to _hurt_. He wanted…

He wanted out. He wanted away from that place - away from the grief and the memories and the bodies. 

But he couldn't get out - the doors and windows had been reinforced. The tender wood fell beneath his rage but he could not break the brick beyond. He tried - he bashed himself against it and wailed with his broken voice, but the brick would not give. 

And so he wandered and, eventually, he grew tired. He found a wall, and he sat against it, and he hardly recognized the safe room he had spent so much time in. That seemed fitting, somehow. Spring Bonnie invited the darkness, waited for it - begged for it to take his last thoughts and scatter them. 

And he faded, with time. Faded into his own blissful nothing. 

* * *

There were voices. It took them a moment to realize they _were_ voices - real, human voices nearby. All at once, they could think again. They could hear, and feel - or something like it. They could feel the stones beneath their body. They could feel the metal inside their bones. They could - 

It was _them,_ now. Not him. Not it. Them. When had that happened? When had the human wandered back, when had he become one with his rabbit friend? 

It didn't matter. This was okay - they weren't alone, any longer. They had themselves. 

And they had the voices. 

The light seared into their eyes - but they held still. They tried to move a hand, and found their fingers would twitch, but even in that small movement they could feel how stiff they'd gotten. The blood had turned to rust, the bone had grown brittle. How long had they been there? 

The humans grew close - it was a whole party of them. Some men, some women - all exclaiming in delight at the rabbit they'd unearthed. The voices so close hurt their delicate ears, and they were surprised to feel the sudden urge to hurt the humans back. 

But no. It wasn't right. These humans had freed them - as soon as the group left, they would be free to leave. They would finally be able to flee the - the - 

What had they been trying to run from? 

It didn't matter, in the end. The humans didn't leave them - instead, as a group, they moved the animatronic. They traveled - in a van, their human side offered - and then they were moved again. Their new home was unfamiliar, despite the colorful drawings and animatronic parts scattered about it. It didn't feel the same, it didn't sound the same, and once the group had settled the rabbit in place and left, they found they were alone again. 

Not alone, they reminded themselves, they weren't alone. They had each other. 

More time passed. Quiet, unknown time in which they wondered what would happen now. But the answer they got was not the answer they expected. A new human arrived - he walked past them to some unknown room. He walked past them, but they listened to his every step. They tracked him, and suddenly inspired, they finally climbed to their feet. 

It was slow and heavy - every joint had crusted with gore and rust and time. They were slow - frustratingly slow, when once they could have sprinted together. But they were active, mobile - 

They were alive. 

And Henry was near. Henry, who had once been a friend - Henry, who had wanted to separate them. Henry, who they respected. Henry, who was just an adult - a danger. Henry, who had - had he failed them? 

Henry was a friend. 

Henry was an unknown. 

Henry was an enemy. 

Henry was a _danger._

They did not realize, until then, how many they really _were._ They were not two - they were not one. They were many - a bubbling pit of soul fragments and souls and a CPU that struggled to come to terms with all of the different voices. It hurt. It was confusing. The two were stronger but the many were louder and they couldn't ignore them because their demands and their fears hurt and - 

They wanted it to _stop._ They had been fine before _he_ showed up. They could make the small voices stop, make them go away, if they got rid of the human. Then it could be just them again - quieter and familiar. 

A whir caught their attention - they looked up, and their eyes caught the glint of a camera. They were being watched. Henry - _dangerdangerdanger_ \- was watching them. They tilted their head, gnashed their teeth - they wanted him to know that they were watching too. 

They looked away from the camera, and began to pull themselves down the hall. Towards Henry. They would find him, and they would tell him to leave. 

They'd just tell him to leave, no matter what those little voices said. 

They would not kill him. 

They would not kill. 

They would - 

_Kill._


	28. Funtime Bonnie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fritz thought they'd found everything - every one - there was to find in the bowels of Circus Baby. Unfortunately, it turns out he was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little non-canon what if! I love. Bunnies.

The eerie quiet of the underground never failed to worm its way under Fritz's skin. Which was exactly why, now that the Funtimes had been moved above ground, he so rarely visited the bunker-like labyrinth. There wasn't usually the need, and he and Mike had long since agreed that they'd leave the area alone as much as they possibly could. It held memories for both of them - for Fritz, it was the cold bite of metal and the soft ticking of the fragile locks holding it all back. 

Still, Funtime Foxy's tail had broken off, and they had told Fritz that there were extra parts. In the services room. Underground. Foxy had tried to insist they were fine, that they trusted the humans to fix them with new parts. 

But they'd looked so  _ sad  _ when they'd stared at their tail. So if there was an extra tail just like that, Fritz decided he'd find it. He could brave the underground for a while, if that's what it took. 

And so, there he was, in the bowels of his own restaurant. Parts of it were as terrifying as usual - the elevator ride, the small vents - but at least this time Fritz could use his flashlight. At least this time, he didn't have to crawl on hands and knees while praying to whoever would listen that Funtime Foxy wouldn't grab him. 

In fact, he thought far too late, maybe he should have brought Funtime Foxy with him. 

There was nothing for it, though, there was no point in going back up just to come down again. So Fritz forged his path towards the services room. His path was clear, as expected. It was actually fairly easy to locate the room, and then an extra tail, and a number of extra parts besides. Fritz grabbed what he could fit in the bag he'd brought with him - if he were lucky, he wouldn't have to make the trip again. 

Fritz was almost calm by the time he started trekking back across Foxy's auditorium. Despite that, when a sudden  _ bang  _ cut through the air, he jumped violently - letting out a choked scream. He let the bag of parts fall to the ground as he spun in place, looking everywhere with the flashlight. No eyes or metal or claws or teeth glinted off the light - there was nothing there, as far as he could see. The building was old - it'd likely been a pipe, Fritz thought. Trembling slightly, he leaned down to pick the bag back up - just as another, even louder bang shot through the air. 

Deciding the bag wasn't worth it, Fritz was already backing up when another series of bangs shot out - punctuated at the end by a loud crash. Fritz had just enough time to catch a nearby door - leading to a room he'd never explored - fall to the ground. The light briefly glinted off a pair of eyes, and then Fritz was running. 

They had looked at Funtime Chica - neither of them had wanted to be near her, but they'd examined her all the same. There'd not been any sign of life - and the Funtimes had insisted she'd never been alive. Fritz had to wonder now, though, if they'd been wrong. Had they inadvertently left Funtime Chica alone? 

Fritz didn't make it far. Something grabbed the back of his shirt and ripped him back, sending him flying along the ground. He gripped his flashlight as tightly as he could, trying not to let go of it - rewarded with it still in his hand as he came to a stop. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet and turned, bringing the flashlight up. It lit up the approaching animatronic, and Fritz felt his breath catch. 

It was not Funtime Chica. It was an animatronic Fritz didn't know - but whom he and Mike had once conceptualized. Mike had thought it strange that there'd been no rabbit - but then had shrugged and agreed that BonBon was probably close enough. 

But they'd been wrong. There  _ was  _ a rabbit, and it was stalking towards Fritz that very moment. 

There was no doubt that it was a Funtime animatronic. Its shell was the same metallic hide as the others, with a pair of glinting purple cheeks and matching, shining bowtie. Most of its metallic body was soft, shining gold in color - although it's muzzle, stomach, and the inside of its ears were eggshell white. Like the others, plates were visible in its face - but it looked as if it'd already been attacked, once. The edges of the plates didn't quite line up, giving its face a permanently split look - although the grin splitting its muzzle was just for Fritz. Teeth glinted in its smile - sharp teeth. And although it probably should have been one of his last thoughts, Fritz couldn't help but wonder who'd decided to give this thing  _ sharp  _ teeth. 

"W-wait," Fritz said, backing up further, until his hand touched the wall behind him - better to tell his own location, "Who, uh, who are you? You - I'm sorry, we didn't know anyone else was, you know, down here." 

The rabbit stopped, both of its ears - Fritz could see speakers inlaid in them - twitched. It tilted its head to the side and blinked it's brilliant green eyes. 

"Who, uh, who are you?" Fritz's own voice - exactly the same - came from the rabbit's speakers. It twitched its ears again, then continued, "You'll be Funtime Bonnie. It's only a shame no one will ever really appreciate you." The voice it used that time was one Fritz had never heard - smooth and soothing and although Fritz couldn't know for sure, he had a bad feeling he knew exactly whose voice it was. 

"That's, um, very good," Fritz said, trying to hold the flashlight steady, "You're good at - at voices. Have one of your own?" 

The rabbit seemed to think for a minute before replying, again in that same, calm voice. Although, this time, the voice almost seemed a mumble - the sound of a man talking to himself. "It won't need a voice box. The mimicry will be enough."

"Oh," Fritz said weakly. 

"Oh," Funtime Bonnie responded. 

"Have, uh, have you been down here long?" Fritz asked. At that Funtime Bonnie finally straightened up out of the predatory half crouch he'd been in - he was nearly as tall as Baby, to Fritz's horror - and looked around the room. It's eyes glowed - Fritz only really saw that when they lit up the darkness around them. After a second, Funtime Bonnie nodded and looked at Fritz again. 

"Long," He agreed in Fritz's voice. 

"I'm sorry," Fritz repeated, his heartbeat starting to calm. Their meeting had been terrifying - but the rabbit, despite his intimidating appearance, didn't seem particularly bloodthirsty. "I'm sorry, uh, we didn't know anyone else was down here. We really didn't. Otherwise we would have, you know, come to find you sooner. You must have been lonely - I don't think the others even knew you were here."

"Alone," Funtime Bonnie said, "So alone. Scared. Daddy? Where are you?" Fritz winced, his heart climbing into his throat. This time, every sentence from the rabbit sounded new, but they all shared one thing - the voices of children. With the animatronic's choices in voices, and his similarity to Spring Bonnie, and his Funtime history - Fritz didn't have to wonder where it'd picked up those lines. 

"I'm sorry," the human mumbled again, "I can imagine how scary it would be, to be alone." He paused, they both did, and Funtime Bonnie just waited, eyes locked on Fritz with the unblinking stare only animatronics could manage. "Funtime Bonnie," Fritz finally asked, "Um, do you want - are you going to, you know, hurt me?" 

The animatronic didn't seem surprised at the question, nor did he answer it right away. Eventually, though, he shook his head. 

"No," he answered, the word too quick for Fritz to decide whose voice it used. 

"That's, uh, a relief," Fritz said, feeling the constriction in his chest ease. "In that case, do you want to be, uh, friends? I can take you to lots of friends, even!" Funtime Bonnie tilted his head again, his ears flicking in thought. 

"Friends? I miss my friends," He asked, in another young voice. 

"Friends," Fritz agreed, feeling a bit more sure. He wondered if he should be worried about the way Mike was rubbing off on him - but decided it didn't matter. If Funtime Bonnie were actually friendly, Fritz would be helping - and if he weren't, well, he'd probably kill Fritz anyway. If Fritz could at least get him above ground, the others could help if things got nasty. 

"Yes," Funtime Bonnie finally answered, "Yes. That sounds good. Perfect." 

Mike was going to have a shit fit the first time he heard his father's voice come from the rabbit, Fritz thought. He'd have to be sure to warn the other man.

"Great! Cool. We love, uh, new friends. Just follow me, okay? I'll show you the way. Say, Funtime Bonnie, do you like the sun?" 

"Sun?" The rabbit echoed as Fritz moved past him, heading for his wayward bag of parts. "Unfortunate, that he'll never go above. Such is the price we pay for success."

"You've never seen the sun?" Fritz asked, hefting the bag up with a grunt, "well, uh, the others love it. I think you'll like it too."

"I am ready to see," Funtime Bonnie responded. Fritz looked at the rabbit as he approached - and was surprised when he held a golden hand out. "Help?" He asked. Fritz looked at the offered hand, then carefully set the bag of parts down. 

"Uh, sure, if you want. Thanks!" 

Funtime Bonnie picked the bag up with far less effort than Fritz, then looked at the human expectantly. With a nod, Fritz turned his back - waited a second to be sure the rabbit wouldn't leap at him - then began to walk. Footfalls fell into step behind him. 

"Alright, let's get you into the sun," Fritz said. 

"Here comes the sun," Funtime Bonnie sang in response, the song playing from him like a radio. Fritz looked back at the rabbit in surprise, then couldn't help but grin. And, as they made their way to the surface, Fritz sang along with his new friend. 


	29. Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To fifteen year old Mike, William's invite to a chat at Fredbear's is a siren's call. Content Warnings in the note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: On-screen child (young teen) death, parental abuse/cruelty, blood and gore. Please feel free to skip this one if those aren't subjects you're okay tangling with.

Fifteen year old Michael Afton sat in the stiff, uncomfortable plastic chair with his hands clenched so tightly together that it hurt. He didn't want to be there - after what had happened, he'd never wanted to step foot in Fredbear's again. Even now, in the bright lights of daytime and surrounded by playful music, all Mike could think about was his last time in the building. All he could see was Fredbear, trying to move and sing past the child's head mangled in his jaws. All Mike could hear were the screams of terrified onlookers. 

The dying, gurgling screams of his little brother. 

Movement snapped Mike out of the fresh memory, and he straightened as his father took the seat in front of him. William was the reason Mike was there at all - getting back into his father's good graces was the only motivator for his return to Fredbear's. 

It'd been two and a half weeks since William had banished his eldest son from the house. Two and a half weeks where Mike had been desperately trying to keep himself afloat on the streets - helped only with the wad of cash his father had so graciously flung at him. It'd been two and a half weeks, when his father's car had driven up next to him. How William had found Mike, the boy had no idea - but, at the same time, it didn't surprise him much. 

William had been curt and cold, as usual, and had all but commanded Mike to come and meet him at Fredbear's, in a day's time. There'd been a time, and then William had driven away again - saying nothing more to his kid, who watched his father leave while the rainstorm soaked him to the bone. 

Mike had jumped at the chance. His father had always been impossible to read, but Mike couldn't help but think William would let him come home. There'd be hell to pay, chores to do, harsh commands to follow - but it'd be worth it, if it meant Mike didn't have to spend another night outside. And, so, here Mike was - sitting in Fredbear's and trying not to squirm while his father gave him a cool look-over. 

"You look uncomfortable, Michael," William finally broke the silence, and Mike looked over at him. "Here, with your own father. Are you really so upset with me?" 

"No!" Mike answered quickly, surprised William had even asked, "No, sir, it's - it's not you." That wasn't entirely true, although Mike wouldn't call what he felt  _ upset.  _ Hurt, maybe. Desperate, definitely. He was terrified that William would send him away again - but he wasn't angry with his father. How could he be? 

Mike deserved everything William had done, and more. 

"Ah," William said, leaning back in his chair, "the restaurant, then. Of course. Is it just fear, or do you truly feel regret for what you did? Do you even understand the meaning of the word?" 

"Of course, I - dad, please," Mike said, leaning forward and staring into William's eyes. It was awful, and uncomfortable, but he needed his father to understand that he not only felt regret, but that he felt guilt - that he felt this dark and awful monster that threatened to swallow him every second he was awake. "I never would have - if I'd known, for even a second -" 

"You should have," William snapped, "I have told you - I have told you  _ all  _ \- time and time again to stay away from the animatronics. To keep your distance. And you see what happens when you don't listen to me? You see, now, that I had good reason for that order?" 

"Yes, sir," Mike said, the words slipping softly from his throat. He looked away, then, and let his head drop. Silence stretched between them, heavy and thick. Mike heard William take a slow and steady breath, and then suddenly the man stood, drawing Mike's attention. 

"Come. If it makes you so uncomfortable, then perhaps we'd be better off talking elsewhere," William said, turning to walk away almost immediately. Mike scrambled to get to his feet and follow, jogging slightly to catch up. They left the main room through a set of double doors, which led to the much less comfortable back rooms of Fredbear's. William and Henry's office was far in the back, and multiple other rooms, closets, and storage spaces lined the cement-floored hallway along the way. Mike assumed they would go to the office, so he was surprised when his father pushed the door to another room open, instead. 

Although Mike knew the restaurant as well as his own house, this was one room he'd never been allowed in. It was strictly off limits, and with a name like the 'safe room,' Mike had been more than okay with leaving it alone. As a younger child, he'd often imagined it to be a steel-lined bunker, meant for something like a nuclear attack. 

He was surprised to find he hadn't been entirely off the mark. 

The room's walls were thick - although they seemed to be made of cement rather than steel. There wasn't much in the room at all, beyond a few metal shelves, a couple of chains draped across the ceiling - 

And two familiar, golden animatronics. 

Mike was already in the room when he spotted Fredbear and froze dead in his tracks. The bear was slumped against a far wall, and Mike's eyes were immediately drawn to the huge, dark stains covering its muzzle and front. Immediately, Mike tried to back right out of the room - but William grabbed his shoulder, pulled him further in, and shut the door with a bang. 

"Get a hold of yourself," William said, his tone bored as he wrenched Mike around, forcing his son's gaze away from Fredbear. Mike gasped a breath, as if a spell had been broken. He couldn't help but glare at his father then - in what way was this supposed to be more comfortable? But for once, William didn't seem concerned by his child's ire. He simply let go of Mike and walked away, heading right for the room's other occupant. 

Spring Bonnie. 

William made his way to the rabbit and, with years of practiced ease, disconnected its head from its body. Then, he turned, and began to make his way back to Mike. 

"I had high hopes for you once, Michael," William said, "all through Julianne's pregnancy, in fact. You were to be my first born, the pride and joy, the heir." He came to a stop in front of Mike, and the boy couldn't help but flinch when William held the rabbit's head up next to Mike's own. "I imagined how I might teach you everything I knew. Perhaps build you a suit of your own, one day. And then, you were all of three years old, and so angry." William lowered the head back to his side. "You wanted a toy and I refused, and I have never seen such a tantrum in my life. Not even Elizabeth can compare, and we both know how she can scream when irked." 

William crouched for a second and sat the rabbit's head on the ground. Mike watched, continued watching as his father straightened back up. Mike's heart was pounding, his head felt fuzzy - he was surprised to realize those feelings were  _ anger.  _ William's words were making Mike burn hot, and he curled his hands into fists as his father continued. 

"I knew it then, that very day. I looked into your eyes and I saw it," William lifted a hand and laid it flat against Mike's cheek. It took everything in the boy's spirit not to shy away. "Just like I see it now. I knew you were destined to be a disappointment." With a deft movement, William took Mike's chin in his hand and squeezed. Mike grimaced at that, tried to yank away - but his father's grip was strong, and he tugged Mike closer. William leaned over his son, and his voice grew as cold as his eyes. 

"And I was right." 

The sudden pain in Mike's stomach was all at once hot and cold, piercing and dull. Mike gasped, and as William's hand moved to the back of his neck, where it squeezed and held steady, Mike looked down at himself. His father's other hand was wrapped around the hilt of a knife - and that knife was plunged deep into Mike's abdomen. 

"Dad?" Mike asked, his voice a tremble as his anger was drenched in confusion and terror. He looked back up into William's eyes, where he found only a dispassionate, impersonal calm. Mike cried out and reached to grasp tightly onto his father as he felt the knife move - as he felt it tug and rip its way up his body. 

Mike was soaked with something hot. He trembled as everything inside turned cold. His legs couldn't hold him anymore, but his fall to the ground was stalled as he collapsed forward into his father. 

It might have been the only time in Mike's memory that his father didn't pull away from an embrace. 

"Perhaps I can still make use of you," William muttered, the sound coming from far, far away. Mike tried to call to the man for help, but there was something in his lungs. In his throat. It trapped the words beneath its mucus-like slick, and something gurgled in Mike's ears. 

The world and all of its things - its pain, and heat, and cold, and its people - faded to blackness. Mike's last thought, the last thought he'd ever have, was that he had deserved punishment for what he did. 

But he hadn't deserved this. 


	30. Prompt 30: Father and Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After too many years, Henry and Charlie find each other again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Brief mention of blood, and off-screen death of a child.

Henry Emily often slept hard - impossible to wake without anything less than an air horn or atomic bomb. He slept hard - but he did not sleep soundly. He had not slept soundly since the day they'd discovered his daughter drenched in rain and blood and the embrace of a sparking, broken puppet. So in his sleep, Henry rolled and cried and suffered - and he no longer knew what it meant to be well-rested. But his body demanded sleep, and so he gave it - assisted by melatonin or alcohol, depending on the weight of his guilt that night. These days, with Mike to think about, it was usually the former. And he would be always thankful that, that night, Henry had turned to the supplement rather than the drink. 

He would have hated for their reunion to be tempered by a clouded mind. 

It was his house alarm - punctuated by the sound of clattering objects and ominous banging - that woke him, likely after a few minutes of cacophony. Henry's wake was slow and groggy, but once he was aware of the noise, adrenaline shot through him and chased off the last of that heavy sleep. He slipped from his bed, grabbed the bat he kept near it, and made his way carefully out of his room. He expected a burglar, a trespasser - and while it was the second, it wasn't the first. Nor was it, in any way, expected. 

There, currently tangled in the window curtains, was an animatronic. An animatronic that Henry had not seen in a long, long time - in fact, the last he'd seen it in person, it'd been curled around the already cold body of Henry's daughter. He'd known, of course, that the puppet had been repurposed for the first of the Freddy Fazbear locations, but it'd long disappeared before Henry took control of the company. 

Yet, here it was now - tangled in his curtains. Henry stared, barely daring to breathe, as the Puppet wrestled with its fabric foe. It was obvious when it noticed Henry, though - the puppet froze, blank eyes staring over at the man. They were trapped like that for a long moment, simply staring at each other in disbelief and trepidation. 

Then, suddenly, Henry was on his knees next to the trapped puppet. Thinking little of his own safety - with no idea if the puppet were there as friend or foe - Henry reached out to untangle the spindly animatronic. He made quick work of the curtains, practically ripping them apart to free the puppet. 

Things happened quickly - the curtains were pulled away, and then suddenly Henry was flat on his back, the puppet perched over him. It laid a thin arm against Henry's neck, and its face leaned close. Closer still. So close it was nearly touching Henry's own. 

And then they were frozen in time, once more. 

"Charlotte?" Henry asked after some time, noting numbly how his voice broke as he said her name. The puppet didn't respond - couldn't, Henry was sure - but it did tilt its head slightly to the side. Even though it didn't have obvious eyes, Henry was sure it was staring even harder at him. 

"Is that you, honey?" Henry asked, his whole body trembling now, "Charlotte - Charlie - are you there?" 

It was almost as if the puppet deflated. Its tense and intimidating posture faded, and it seemed all at once so much smaller. It laid against Henry, and pulled itself into a ball - until its head was tucked up under Henry's chin and its body was curled tight. 

She trembled. 

With a broken sob that could almost be a name, Henry pushed himself up into a sit, curled his arms tightly around the animatronic remnants of his daughter, and held her as close as he could. 

They sat like that for a long, long while. 


	31. Role Reversal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William takes the job at Fazbear Frights purely to see what items they've gathered. He hopes, but doesn't expect, to find his long lost rabbit - unfortunately, Spring Bonnie isn't as happy to see his creator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Blood and Gore.
> 
> How did this person get spring trapped? Good question. Fill in your answer here 😂

The little faux-restaurant was an affront. Sure, William could see what they were going for - aiming to heighten the terror factor with dark lighting and mess - but it was trying so hard that it just seemed ridiculous. Worse than that was the fact that William was there at all - a measly 'guard' there to act and stop teenagers from being teenagers. It was an insult, and generally William wouldn't have even considered such a position. 

But this was Freddy's. And although it was an offshoot who thought too much of itself, the items it had were legitimate. And that was the only reason William was there - he'd take a look at what the owners had gathered, and move on if there was nothing of interest. 

There wasn't much left to find, any more. William had tracked down almost every wayward animatronic - and now had their pieces safely stored away for later use. But there were still two missing - and in William's mind, they were the most important of the lot. 

He didn't have a lot of hope for Fredbear. When he'd last seen that one, it'd still been covered in the gore of his younger son. For that very reason - the difficulty cleaning it would pose - it was likely the current company had destroyed Fredbear entirely. 

Spring Bonnie, however, was a different story. He'd been old, and worn, but he'd been a classic, with functionality none of the more current set had. If nothing else, being in decent shape, the rabbit could have earned a pretty penny - which meant his continued existence was still possible. William hadn't found him yet - but he was always watching. Searching. 

How good it'd be to find his oldest creation again. With Spring Bonnie, the collection would truly be complete. 

That being said, William didn't hold out much hope for this tiny attraction. But he wouldn't deny any possible lead, no matter how small. So when he arrived for his first 'shift,' he immediately set to searching. Frankly, after years of looking, the speed with which he found Spring Bonnie was almost insulting. 

The rabbit was propped against a wall near the entrance of the attraction. William didn't often feel much, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret when he saw his own creation. Spring Bonnie had seen much, much better days. His once golden fur had turned an off-green, mostly due to staining and the mold that'd grown on it. There were holes throughout his body - some bigger than others - and most of one ear was missing entirely. Wires and metal jutted out at strange angles all over. 

This was not a rabbit who'd be putting on any shows any time soon. This was not a rabbit anyone would willingly follow. 

William crouched down in front of Spring Bonnie to get a closer look. With a soft 'tsk,' he pried the rabbit's mouth open. There, nestled inside of Spring Bonnie, was a body. Identifying features had long since sloughed off of the corpse, but William could see how it'd been mangled within the broken springlock apparatuses. 

"What poor sod did you trap in here, old friend?" William muttered, setting the rabbit's jaw back to rights. That explained the especially poor condition. It was not just neglect, though that had certainly not helped. Bodies attracted all manner of insects and rot, though - William could easily imagine how the pests would have chewed through the animatronic's hide to get at the flesh beneath. 

"It's no matter," William said, standing back up, "this is nothing some time and ability cannot fix, and luckily for you, I've plenty of both. I'll have to apologize, however - I don't have the machinery I'll need to move you today. I'll return with it tomorrow, and we'll get you to where you belong." William stood there for another long moment, his mind's eye already piecing together how he might repair the rabbit. 

He turned and walked away, down to the office that he was supposed to work in. He'd perform tonight, return for Spring Bonnie the next evening, and then never look back at the sham of a Fazbear's again. As William walked away from the rabbit, thinking about his plans, he missed the small glimmer in the animatronic's eyes. 

He couldn't miss, however, that the rabbit had been moved when he returned the next evening. It was sitting closer to the office, still against a wall, alone in the empty hallway. Immediately, William felt the warmth of anger rush along his skin. It was bad enough that they'd brought Spring Bonnie here to begin with - that the rabbit had been downgraded to _horror attraction_. It was worse, though, to think that they'd laid hands on him. Had moved him, likely with no care of his sensitive condition. Definitely without the stabilizing chains and machinery William had brought to use for the same task. 

"That was the last of it, old friend," William said, lying a hand on the rabbit's molded head, "tonight, you come home with me. Before you know it, you'll be better than ever." William turned away, intending to start preparing the rabbit for the move. He paused, however, when he heard an awful grinding, clicking sound. 

He was surprised when a voice followed suit. 

"D-d-dad." The rabbit's voice was as warped and worn as the rest of him - full of static and screeching and grinding. That he could use a voice at all was a surprise - and it had William turning back around with a critical eye. 

Spring Bonnie was looking at him, there was no doubt about it. The eyes had moved, and were peering right into William's own. The rabbit twitched, mechanics grinding against each other as it tilted its head and repeated itself. 

"So. You too," William said with a heavy sigh. He had expected the rabbit to escape the fate of the others - there had never been a child within Spring Bonnie, after all. He hadn't been in direct contact with the heavy dose of remnant the others had experience. But, though he knew far more than most, William had to admit that some properties of the substance still escaped him. Perhaps the rabbit had been close enough to experience some effects - some level of sentience. 

Or perhaps, he realized with a mental palm to the forehead, it was the body within that'd given Spring Bonnie sentience. That was the moment that William caught on to what, exactly, the rabbit had said. He'd ignored it at first, assuming that it was Spring Bonnie's way of naming his creator. But, now he wondered. 

William crouched once more in front of the rabbit. With careful hands, he examined Spring Bonnie as closely as he could, trying to see the dried flesh and bones beneath. Using holes in the rabbit's shell, William carefully pried at the bones, felt along them, and tried to determine their length. 

It was no child, that was to be sure. Perhaps a shorter adult, though - whether young or just short, it was difficult to tell. Still, with the rabbit's word and William's own intuition, he could take an educated guess. 

"Michael?" William asked, setting the rabbit's arm down carefully. At the name, the rabbit's better ear twitched, and lights briefly blinked within his eyes. "I see," William continued with another sigh, "What brought you to put the suit on, I wonder? Unfortunate, but you know, I did often warn you." William got back to his feet, and gave the animatronic another look-over. "Well. You should be easier to deal with than those brats, at least. You'll have to move on eventually, Michael. But for the moment, you'll come along."

"D-d-dad," The animatronic ground out again, and William found himself giving a small, short laugh. 

"Is that all you can say?" He asked, amused. 

The animatronic should not have been able to move as fast as it did. It was worn, and broken, and barely had legs to stand on. So how it went from sitting to _lunging_ , William couldn't even begin to guess. But it was suddenly there, it's hand wrapped tight around the human's throat. William was slammed into the wall, and he grunted as the shock and pain of it shot through his body. He struggled, and grabbed at the hand that held him - scratched and pulled uselessly at it. 

" _Hate,"_ Spring Bonnie snarled - the sound like escaping steam. He brought his face close to William's, and the man could hear the snarling machines beneath. " _I hate you,"_ every word was a stutter, a whir of failing parts. 

"Put me down," Willaim said, struggling to force the words past the mass at his throat, "Bonnie. _Michael._ Put me down, this instant."

For an instant in time, for perhaps the first time in his life, William felt true _terror._ Because at his command, the animatronic grinned. It was more a grimace, a shifting of ancient gears and fur, but the malicious look was complete all the same. An instant, because the rabbit - the hybrid creature of metal and bone - moved fast. An instant was all William had. 

_"No,"_ Spring Bonnie hissed, and then he was tearing William apart. Tender entrails were spilled along the ground, shards and chunks of bone scattered among them. William stayed alive longer than he would have liked, but he hardly noticed - his last moments so filled with pain and screaming and _begging._ For it to stop or to end, he didn't know, he only wanted something to change - and soon enough, he got his wish. Soon enough, it simply didn't matter any longer. 


	32. Scrapbaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate universe, there is no Circus Baby's Pizza World - at least not any longer. In an alternate universe, Elizabeth and Baby were alone for a long, long time. Until Mike learns of their existence, and comes to find them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super AU, pretty much ignores the existence of Family Circus entirely! :)

The building had been a restaurant, once upon a time. Not just any restaurant, but a Fazbear's of some sort - though Mike had never stepped foot in it. He hadn't even known it'd existed, not until Henry had mentioned it. Not until Henry had sat Mike down and spun a tale - he'd told Mike everything about Elizabeth, and what had happened to her. That she was dead, killed at the hands of an animatronic William had once worked on with relish. An animatronic that Henry had lost sight of, a few years back now - an animatronic he believed he had found. 

Henry had offered to go, had intended to go - but Mike had taken his place. If the run-down building was really housing what was left of his sister's soul, it was only right that Mike be the one to find her. When Henry had insisted, had said that he'd never meant to send Mike, had only thought he should know, Mike had dug his heels in with a stubbornness he'd well honed. Had declined when Henry offered to, at least, go with him. 

"We have no way of knowing what state she's in. Too many people may very well enrage her. It's best if I go alone, Henry. You know me - I'll be careful."

And in the end, Henry had agreed. Likely because he knew there wasn't much other choice. And so he'd told Mike where to go, had showed him the blueprints to give him an idea what he might find. Mike had gone - and this was where he'd ended up. 

The interior was a mess - it'd obviously been ransacked more than once. Whether by humans or animatronic or both, it was difficult to say. Mike kept his flashlight steady, peeked at every shadowy corner. His heart beat heavy in his ears - Elizabeth or not, he could be facing an animatronic of unknown aggression. 

It reminded him a little of Fazbear's Fright. Mike did his best to put that thought firmly out of mind. 

She was fast, faster than any animatronic Mike had met yet - which said a lot, because Foxy could outrun most humans and Springtrap had been disastrously quick himself. But Mike didn't even know she was there, had no clue until he was suddenly thrust against the wall, his neck entrapped by a massive, metal claw. 

It wasn't strangling him, but the threat was there - he could feel its cold bite on the skin of his neck. Mike reached up and grabbed the claw in both of his hands, and stared with wide eyes at the animatronic wielding it. He'd fucked up - and the only minor relief was that she wasn't already ripping him apart. 

The animatronic didn't look like the blueprints - sure, Mike could see some resemblance. It was a feminine face, with obvious cheeks and a similarly set pair of eyes. It had the exact same hair style, if less of it. But the Circus Baby of the blueprint had been rotund - built like a tank, or else a holding cell. The animatronic facing Mike, however, seemed incomplete. Withered. She was missing chunks of shell - some small, some giant - and wires and metal jutted out from her body at all sorts of strange angles. The blueprints had also made no mention of her giant claw-hand, nor the skates on her feet. This animatronic looked like the badly worn version of a child's mishmashed drawing. 

She leaned closer to Mike, who did little but stare in return, knowing to struggle would be futile. They stayed like that for a long minute, while her eyes - green, so  _ familiar  _ \- looked him over. 

"You are not him," She finally said. Her voice was soft, lined with silk and calm. Mike waited, and she continued after a long pause. "You are not the father. You are -" She paused once more. "Michael. You must be. Jeremy was dead."

"I'm Michael," Mike agreed, his own voice calm except for the slight warble in its tone. "And you - you're…Lizzy? Is that you?" 

"No," the animatronic's answer was immediate. She pulled her claw away, freeing Mike from its prison. He lifted a hand and rubbed at his neck, feeling his gut twist with a hard pull of disappointment. 

"I am sorry," the animatronic continued, "I was Elizabeth, once. Or, rather, she was a part of me. But the little one has since moved on - there was no more for her to do. No more for us to fix. She waited - but she could only wait so long. I urged her onward, before her soul could wilt."

"Oh," Mike said, and couldn't bring himself to say anymore. It hurt - maybe more than it had the right to. His own inattention, his failure to grasp the offered olive branch when his father had flung it to him, had kept himself and his sister apart. Although devastated to hear she'd been killed, a part of him had hoped, when he learned, that he might be able to talk to her again. Even if only to say he was sorry. To know he'd missed her once more - it clogged his throat, and brought tears to his eyes. 

"She missed you," the animatronic continued, her voice somehow even softer, "you and your brother both. She missed you terribly. But she loved you, Michael. Her memories of you were fond. She had anger - oh yes. For a little girl, she held quite a lot of anger. But it was not for you. She loved you."

"Thank you," Mike said, choking on the words. He tried to clear his throat - tried harder when it didn't quite work. "I'm sorry. I - it's good, isn't it? It's good that she moved on. I should be happy. Sorry."

The animatronic tilted her head, and the plates of her face shifted - she smiled, and Mike had never seen an animatronic smile so successfully before. 

"You love her too. You don't have to apologize for that," was all she said in reply. 

They fell quiet again, and Mike took a few breaths, trying to get his emotions back under his control. He could deal with them later. His animatronics would gladly hold him while he sobbed his grieving heart out, if he wanted. For the moment, though, there was more to be done. Elizabeth was gone - but this animatronic was not. 

"What's your name?" Mike asked. 

"Baby is the simplest. It is what she always called me, too. I may not be the same as I was, but the name is dear to me."

"Baby, okay," Mike said with a nod, "are you alone here, Baby?" 

"Yes, it is only me."

"Do you want to be?" 

"Who would ever want to be?" Baby asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. Mike held his hands up quickly, attempting to soothe her. 

"Sorry, sorry. I just thought I should ask. Some people like to be alone, you know. Nothing wrong with that."

"Well, _ I  _ do not," Baby retorted. Then, she let out a sigh-like whir. To Mike's surprise, her shoulders fell - she seemed to draw into herself a bit, as if losing all of her energy. "I have been alone for a long time now, Michael. I had Elizabeth once, but even she has gone. I may have urged her to go, but I so desperately miss her, all the same."

"I'm sorry," Mike said, and it didn't feel like enough. Baby turned away from him, still slumped, and he felt his guilt twist in a new direction. After a long few seconds, and with a bracing breath, Mike moved over to her. He reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder, being careful not to touch anything exposed. "I'm sorry you've been alone. I can't imagine how hard it's been. Baby…you don't have to be alone anymore. You can come with me."

"With you?" Baby asked, turning her head to look at him. Mike nodded. 

"Yeah! I have my own restaurant - the animatronics there, they're a good group. They'd love to have a new friend. A new family member. You'd have companions, all the time. With some work, you could even see the kids again - if you wanted."

"You would permit this?" She asked, sounding as if she didn't quite believe it, "broken and worn as I am, you would let me come with you?" 

"It doesn't matter what you look like," Mike told her, feeling himself smile, "if you want to be fixed, we can do that. But that's all…cosmetic. You're a good one, Baby. I can tell. You took care of my sister, all this time - how could I possibly leave you alone?" 

"Michael…" Baby turned to face him and then, suddenly, she had her arms wrapped around him. He tensed, at first - but relaxed in her cautiously gentle hold. He reached around and gave her a hug in return - equally as careful. "Thank you," Baby said softly, and at that Mike couldn't help but hold on a little tighter. 

"No," he answered, "thank  _ you." _


	33. Honk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Ness discovers a long-held secret of Freddy's.

It was a perfectly average evening - the Arcade patrons and the other employees had left, leaving behind the animatronics and the two humans they called family. Mike was restocking some of the prize shelves, humming softly to himself, when he heard it. 

_ Honk!  _

Mike froze in place, then turned to look around the main room. All the animatronics had gone still too, and for a heartbeat there was silence - until it was broken by a burst of joyful laughter. Ness - currently held tight in Freddy's arms - reached up and squeezed the mortified bear's nose. The honk it let out was reminiscent of a dog's squeaky toy - and in all the years of them being together, Mike had never once heard it. He didn't even know it was a feature - and judging by Freddy's face, it wasn't a feature the bear had ever wanted brought to light. 

Bonnie and Foxy began to cackle next, and at their laughter Ness was bolstered. Giggling herself, she squeezed Freddy's nose again. The third one took out Chica and Spring Bonnie, and even Mike had to hide a grin behind his hand. He had to hand it to the old bear - Freddy would be blushing if he could, or blustering if not, but since it was Ness, he was holding himself together. He didn't scold her, or even ask her to stop - instead, he let her get her fill. 

"Squeak!" Ness said, giggling as she squeezed his nose again. "Freddy, your nose squeaks!" 

"That it does," Freddy agreed in a rumble, "a bit of a fun joke from my creators."

"It's funny," she told him, beaming as she squeaked it again. "You do it!" 

"Pardon?" Freddy asked, blinking at her as she just beamed at him. Then, with a sigh-like whir, he reached up and gave his own nose a squeeze. Despite his clear embarrassment, his ears shifted in pleasure when Ness let out another peal of laughter. 

"Alright kiddo, I think that's enough for now," Mike said as he walked up to the duo. He held out his arms, and without prompting, Ness moved over to his own hold. "You wouldn't want to wear out his nose, would you?" 

"Aw…okay. I guess not," Ness said, her pout brief - quickly chased away by bright excitement. "I wanna try everyone's! Let me down!" 

"Okay, okay," Mike said with a laugh, carefully setting her down. As soon as she was back on the ground, she took off to go and test the other animatronics' noses. Mike watched for a second, then turned slightly to grin at Freddy. The bear's face shifted, immediately giving Mike an unamused, half-lidded look. 

"Do not even think about it," Freddy rumbled, and Mike burst out in a round of laughter of his own. 

"I can't believe you've hidden this from me all this time. Imagine how much fun all the kids would have!" 

"I have imagined, often. They would never leave me alone. Oh yes, laugh it up - you would not find it so funny when there was no escape from the squeaking."

"There's not going to be any escape anyway," Mike pointed out, "it'll be awhile before Ness gets tired of it."

"Yes, well, she is the exception. For her happiness, I'd endure the squeak forever."

With a smile, Mike laid a hand on Freddy's arm. He didn't respond - but he didn't have to. He knew what Freddy meant, and he knew that Freddy understood that Mike agree, wholeheartedly. And to Freddy's credit, he made good on his words. Even when Ness discovered his was the only nose with the ability, and insisted on finding him at random times to honk it, he never lost his patience. 

Though he did give hearty death glares to anyone who dared to laugh. 


	34. Depression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the things you learn as a child stick with you in the worst ways, always waiting to rear their head in unexpected and inopportune times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Depressive episode, self-deprecating thoughts.

The customer base of the Fazbear Family Arcade was generally easy going. Stressed parents had a chance to relax while their kids were distracted by bright colors and games and friends, after all, and that made sure that most stayed in a good mood. But, they were a business, and they dealt with kids - which meant that the more awful of the patrons could be especially snotty and entitled. 

Mike hadn't yet been an owner long, but he found he generally had a talent for dealing with rowdy customers. He didn't let them bully his quickly growing staff - and he wasn't prone to backing down when they got in his face, either. Sure, yelling back and cutting them to the quick wasn't great business practice, but he could afford to be careless. Their loyal customers usually cheered him on, and there wasn't all that much at stake because it wasn't as if they _needed_ the business, in the end. 

It wasn't a good day for it, though. Mike had been needed on the floor, and it had been an especially raucous day, and he'd been fighting off a headache for most of it. So when that day's screaming match ended with the customer grabbing up their kid, stalking away, and snarling a "Thanks a lot, _Michael._ Fucking waste of space," over their shoulder, Mike felt his anger drain away so suddenly it left him frozen. Something clutched tight around his throat, and when Mike felt tears pricking at his eyes, he knew it was time to hide. Quickly, keeping his face angled down, he turned and left the main room. He beelined it for the office, then with the sudden thought of how _obvious_ that was, turned instead for the parts and services room. 

He didn't understand why he so suddenly felt _awful._ It wasn't the anger that usually bounced around for a bit after similar interactions - this was something like dread. Or fear. Or… _guilt_? It kept changing, morphing, and in a pique of pain, Mike grabbed an empty head, tucked it close to his body, and curled up in a corner. He clutched the furred head closer still as another wave of agony shot along his skin. What was _wrong_ with him? 

_Waste of space,_ they'd said. And now Mike was thinking of every time he'd said the wrong thing, or acted out in anger - he thought of Fazbear Frights, and how he'd ignored his family's attempts to stop him. Why did they even keep him around, he wondered, when he was so bullheaded? So thoughtless? They had each other - why did they need him at all? The stubborn, thoughtless human prone to angry outbursts. The weak, impulsive human prone to tears. If he knew it, they had to know it too. Were they just too nice to tell him that they didn't actually like him, at all? 

_Waste of space._

Was he? 

A gasp of a sob escaped him, and he tried to curl in further. Mistakes, start to finish - useless as a child, devastating as a brother, always needing protection and comfort but how often did he actually provide those things in return? How often did he provide good companionship, instead of just bad moods and more problems? 

Selfish, he could add that to the list. He was so _selfish._

Mike covered his mouth with his hand, then bit down, trying desperately to cover the choked sob that wanted to burst from him. He wondered again what was wrong with him - where had all these awful thoughts come from, and why wouldn't they stop? He tried to force them away, tried to think of the good - but the second his attention slipped the bad surged back in. 

He couldn't stem it anymore, so he stopped trying. He let the empty head fall to the ground and buried himself as far as he could into his knees. Tears poured down his cheeks as the thoughts circled through his mind, quickly dampening his jeans, but at least if he let them fall, they didn't come so loudly. His head pounded behind his eyes, and he wished for sleep - maybe if he fell asleep, the thoughts would leave him alone. 

Hands had him suddenly, and Mike hadn't even realized he'd begun to drift until he lifted his head with a startled gasp. With slow and careful movements, Freddy took Mike's place on the floor, and tucked the human tightly against him. Mike stared forward, past Freddy's arm, as the bear shifted then stilled. The tears had stopped flowing, but they'd left Mike's eyes crusted and swollen, and a fresh headache pounded in his ears. 

At the twinkling sound of the March, Mike tightened his hold in Freddy's fur. Freddy tightened his own hold in turn, and then Mike felt the bear rest his head gently on top of Mike's. 

"You are not a waste of space," Freddy rumbled after some time. Mike didn't respond - the words caught in his chest, but he stilled and listened. "And were he not dead and gone, I would personally obliterate the man who instilled in you the instinct to believe such lies. Mike - _Michael._ You are important, and you are loved so dearly. You are our entire world, you know. There would be no point in it, without you - nor if you were anything or anybody but what and who you _are."_

"I -" Mike didn't know what he would say, but it didn't matter - the words caught on a fresh wave of tears. He turned his face and pressed it to the bear as his entire being shook - but there was something different about them, this time. Even as his head pounded more and he trembled, Mike felt something loosening in his shoulders - in his very mind. How Freddy had known exactly where Mike's thoughts had taken him, Mike had no idea. But the bear's response had struck another chord deep in Mike - as if they were the very thing he needed to hear. 

They sat there for a long time, even long after Mike's tears had stemmed once more. As his mind drifted, Mike felt exhausted and sore, as if he hadn't slept in weeks and had run a marathon on top of it. As the March twinkled a little louder, Mike let himself relax more into Freddy's grasp. Maybe there would be time for embarrassment later, or more heart to heart conversations, but for the moment, Mike just let himself feel tired. He let himself drift and, eventually, fall asleep, and as long as Freddy was there, with his murmured affirmations of love and music box, the darkest thoughts stayed at bay. 


	35. Hugging Plush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ness often comes home with a new stuffed animal or two - this time, though, one of them is a very important present.

"Please Uncle Fritz? I promise I'll be quick!" Ness, just a little older than nine, tugged on the man's hand, trying to pull him towards the toy store. Fritz laughed, half stumbled a step or two, then paused to stand his ground. At his stubbornness, Ness looked up at him and bit her lip, turning up the look she knew got them all, every time. Her dad called it 'puppy dog' eyes, and her's must be especially cute because it was always effective. 

"Nessie, you literally can't see your bed, that's how many stuffed animals you have," Fritz said, his mouth twitching - he was trying not to smile, Ness could see it. "If I bring you home not only late, but with a new toy, your dad's gonna send me to  _ my  _ room."

"Aw, come on Uncle Fritz," Ness asked again, giving his hand another tug, "I just wanna look!" She tried to turn on the eyes just a little brighter - then beamed when her uncle gave a hearty sigh. With a soft cheer, Ness hurried towards the toy shop, Fritz no longer fighting against her tugging. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the store, Ness let go of his hand and took off. 

It was always so hard to decide - sometimes, she could convince her dad or uncle to let her get  _ two  _ new toys, but today didn't feel like a lucky day. She'd have to settle for one - but that didn't mean she couldn't pick out a second, too. For the next time they came to the toy store, of course. 

Her chosen friend of the day was a big, squishy, pastel pink octopus. His eyes - it was definitely a him, Ness decided - were almost the size of his head and glittered with mirth. Ness dubbed him 'Ziggy,' and only beamed wider when Fritz crouched to her level to give Ziggy an appropriate greeting. 

"It's very nice to meet you, Ziggy. Welcome to the family," Fritz said, patting the octopus on the head before standing and reaching out towards Ness. She curled an arm securely around Ziggy, then latched on to Fritz's hand with her own. "You're sure he's the one you want?" Fritz asked her. 

"Uh-huh, I'm sure," Ness said, skipping a little as they made their way for the cash register. They were almost there when a display of plushies caught her attention - a whole rack of them she'd missed. Ness paused in step, staring at the selection of various animals. There were all sorts - squids and sloths, dogs and cats, even rabbits and bears, which were of course always a favorite for Ness. They all had some characteristics in common - long, limp limbs, and magnets in their paws or feet or tentacles. It meant they could be hung on fridges, or wrapped around bed frames.

Or, Ness thought, wrapped around a neck in a fluffy hug. She bit her lip, imagining what she could do with a hugging animal. She looked between them and Ziggy - one of them would be  _ perfect,  _ but she'd already promised Ziggy a home. She felt something catch in her throat - it was  _ silly,  _ she was old enough to know that. But that didn't stop the tears from building in her eyes. 

She felt her uncle crouch down by her side, and glanced away so he didn't see - she didn't want him to think she was trying to trick him into letting her get another stuffed animal. But then, with a soft chuckle and an arm tight around Ness's shoulders, Fritz said the best thing he could have said in that moment. 

"I think one of these need a home too, Ness. Why don't you pick one to bring with us?" 

Ness looked at him in surprise, then beamed, the smile so wide she felt it tug uncomfortably at the corners of her mouth. She looked over the collection for a long minute, trying to decide which would be the best. Eventually, she picked up a fox - a real, orange fox, not the red animatronic sort she was used to - and hugged it close. Once she was decided, they went to the counter to pay. 

Ness hurried away from her uncle once they got home, and slowed only once she got to her dad's door. She pushed it open carefully and peeked in - and smiled when she saw him looking back at her. He was lying on his side, still bundled in the covers, but he was awake. He smiled back at her, and that's when Ness knew it was okay to go in. 

"Feeling better?" She asked quietly, and Mike nodded. 

"Better," He agreed, "did you have fun with Fritz?" 

"Uh huh. I even got you a present! But you gotta close your eyes, okay?" 

Mike laughed softly, but did as he was told. As soon as his eyes were closed, Ness dug the little fox out of the shopping bag. Carefully, sticking her tongue out slightly in concentration, Ness wrapped its paws around Mike's neck. It was a bit of a tight fit, and she had to practically crawl on to the bed to get it to work. She barely noticed how Mike scooted back a bit to give her more room, and she didn't see him peek one eye open, just for a second. Finally the fox was latched - or as close as she could get it, but at least it's weighted arms were draped around Mike's neck. 

"Kay!" Ness exclaimed, sitting back on her haunches. Mike opened his eyes and lifted a hand to pat at the fox's fur. "It's a hugging fox!" Ness told him, bouncing slightly in place, "so even when you don't feel good, you have someone to give you hugs!" She beamed at her dad, who looked back at her for a long few seconds. Long enough, in fact, that Ness felt some of her good cheer fade, worried suddenly that he wouldn't like the gift. 

"Thank you, Ness," Mike finally said, and his voice sounded a little rougher than usual, "I love him, he's perfect. And guess what?" 

"Huh?" 

"I love you too," Mike said, reaching out suddenly to grab Ness and pull her close. She giggled, and pretended to struggle as he bundled her up in arms and blanket, tucking her close to him and resting his chin on the top of her head. With a heavy, playful sigh, Ness settled and snuggled in close with a smile. Mike shifted, moving the hugging fox until it was draped slightly over the both of them. 

"You're the best, most thoughtful kid a guy could ask for, Nessie," Mike muttered, "Thank you for the present."

"Welcome," Ness told him cheerfully, "Daddy? I love you too." She felt warm as, at that, her dad hugged her just a little tighter still. 


	36. Mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the bite, Mike is stuck in the hospital for a long time - suffering and painfully alone. What he wants, more than anything, is his dad - what he gets instead is someone he never expected to see again.

Life was a blurred mess of uncertainty, sleep, and pain. On occasion Mike would wake - sometimes flying so high he swore he saw music, other times in so much pain he begged for someone to put him under again. Sometimes, he knew where he was - in the hospital, bundled under thin blankets and covered in tubes, dozing to the sound of beeps and people and his own cries. 

Other times he woke and he was back in that office, or on that stage, staring death in the eyes one way or the other. His head in Toy Bonnie's maw, his throat strangled in Mangle's wires, his body being gently carried by the old and withered Bonnie. 

Sometimes he wasn't awake at all - sometimes Jeremy was there, and other times there was nothing but the soft twinkling of 'My grandfather's clock' filling the black space in between. Mike couldn't have even begun to guess how long he stayed suspended, bouncing between various states of awareness. But, eventually, he woke for real, for good - though he would continue to drift off easily and sleep often for a day or two more. 

It wasn't much easier being awake. First there was surprise - nurses and doctors and even environmental services and the folks who brought his food, all happily surprised that he was awake and talking. There was attention, too - a lot of it. Constant check-ins, the presence of curious medical students, rep after rep from Fazbear Entertainment trying to bribe him into settling outside of court. There was even a reporter, who managed to snap a few pictures and get a few confused answers from Mike before a nurse caught on and promptly removed them from the hospital. 

All the while, Mike had to endure a multitude of repetitive tests and therapies and classes. The things he had to relearn mortified him - tiny movements, the alphabet and basic words, even how to hold in his own excretions. There was a time when they warned him that the last could be a permanent problem. They'd told him it wasn't something he could force, had tried to reassure him that it was something that could be managed and no one he didn't tell would ever have to know. 

Still, Mike had been incredibly relieved when that, at least, had worked itself out. 

When Mike wasn't distracted by the pain of physical therapy or the frustration of re-learning, he spent his time in a different sort of pain. His care team was competent and, over all, very kind. They spoke to him often, chatted as they worked, and a few of the nurses even brought him tiny goodies here and there in an effort to brighten his mood. But it didn't matter - because no matter what, Mike felt completely and utterly alone. 

He bit the question back for a long time, but finally couldn't help but blurt it out to one of his nurses, one day. He'd been unsurprised, but freshly wounded, by her soft answer that, no, besides the Fazbear Entertainment reps, no one had come to see him. Following a desperate trail, he'd asked for newspapers and had looked into the news. 'Dave Miller,' however, had not been detained. The case had been lost, the man had been found innocent, and still William had not come to see his injured son. 

It wasn't a surprise. Still, Mike cried himself to exhaustion more than once over the realization that his father simply couldn't be bothered. 

Logically he knew it wouldn't have mattered - even if William had come he would have only made things worse. But Mike wanted him anyway - he wanted _someone._ Someone he knew, who wasn't just a nurse or a doctor or a lawyer. Someone who could help him navigate the tricky waters of bribes and lawsuits, or who could stroke his hair when the pain was too much, or who would face his episodes of uncontrollable rage with gentle understanding instead of polite detachment. No, William wouldn't have done any of those things - but he was the closest Mike had and, for once, the only one Mike wanted. 

The end of Mike's time in the hospital was on the horizon. Therapy had shifted to methods he could continue to use at home, offers of in-home assistance and appointments for therapy centers were being handed to him over and over. They hadn't given him a date yet, but he knew it was coming soon. With it loomed encroaching loneliness - soon enough, he wouldn't even have his care team for company. 

Mike slowly stirred awake one morning to the soft sound of someone quietly singing nearby. As consciousness drifted closer, Mike realized that someone had a hold of his hand - was gently rubbing a thumb along it. He stayed still as he woke further, terrified that if he proved to be fully awake, whoever it was would leave. Scared, even, that it was just a waking dream, and if he let himself wake too much it would vanish. 

Eventually, though, he had to know. Carefully, he slipped one eye open just a bit - and then they both flew open entirely. He hadn't known what to expect - had been so thrown off by a person's gentle touch that he couldn't imagine who it might be. 

Still, Mike had _not_ expected to see his mother. 

Their time apart had aged her - Mike didn't remember the wrinkles in her face or permanent shadows under her eyes. There was even just a little bit of gray scattered in her otherwise brunette hair. Soft green eyes - god, he'd forgotten just how _soft_ they were - stared back at Mike as she went still, her hand still cupping his. 

"Mom?" Mike asked, his voice cracking as he did. At the word - full of every question he wanted to ask - Julianne smiled, and Mike felt her thumb return to its soft strokes. 

"Hello Mikey," she answered, "it's so, so good to see you again."

Mike stared at her again for a long minute, his thoughts racing at a speed that was more than a little uncomfortable. He wasn't sure where they might settle, not until he'd ripped his hand away from her and sat up in his bed, his body suddenly pulsating with fury. If Julianne was offended or frightened by his sudden shift, she didn't show it. She simply pulled her hand back to her lap and clasped them together. 

"Why are you here?" Mike shot at her, "how did you even know I was here?" 

"I saw your story in the newspaper," she told him, "your picture - the name wasn't right, but I'd recognize you anywhere, of course. As for the why, well I - I came because I wanted to see. Needed to see. They said you were alive, but I needed to see it for myself. And…well, I thought you might need someone. Here, with you. I'm only sorry it took so long - to be honest, Mike, it didn't occur to me right away that William wouldn't come. If I'd thought it through, I would have come sooner."

"I don't need you," Mike said, his stomach twisting painfully in rejection of his own words, "I don't _want_ you here. You don't get to just - you _left,_ mom." He looked away from her, grimacing at the way his voice cracked. "You left us."

"I was selfish," Julianne's answer was almost immediate, "I will not say otherwise, or make excuses - there aren't any, and you deserve better. I don't regret leaving - that wasn't a relationship anymore, only a prison. That was the right choice to make, and I'll never apologize for _that_. I do regret, though, that I left you - all of you - behind."

"Then why did you do it?" Mike snapped, looking at her again. She was looking at him gently, patiently - regretful, but not sad. At his question, she let out a soft breath. 

"It was easier," she admitted, "I knew he wouldn't bother to chase after me if I went alone. But he'd never have quit, if I'd taken you three with me."

"That's awful."

"I know."

"You should have taken us anyway."

"I should have," she agreed, "I should have - and I should have regretted that I didn't, sooner. I suppose I had some growing to do - but that's not an excuse, and it's not right that you had to suffer for it. I have been an awful mother."

"Do you expect me to disagree?" Mike asked, feeling riled up all over again, "want me to reassure you that all's okay, I'm not mad, yadda yadda?" 

"No," Julianne said, "no, I don't, because it's not true. Mike, I didn't come to beg for your forgiveness - you don't owe me a thing. I came to see you, to see you alive for myself." She paused, took a breath. "If you want me to leave, I will. I'll leave you my number if you need it, but I will respect whatever you say. But if you need anything from me, you just let me know. If you need me to advocate for you, or help you around your home, or even just pay for things for you at a distance - I'll do whatever you need, Mikey. That's why I'm here - to take care of you, as much as you'll agree to. I should have been doing it all along."

Mike sniffed, and didn't respond, just looked at her. She looked back at him, and they stayed that way for a long few minutes. Mike wanted to kick her out of his room - he wanted her to hug him. He wanted to tell her he'd never forgive her for leaving - he wanted to forget any of it had ever happened. He was terrified she'd leave him again - he was over-the-moon that she was there. He didn't know what to feel, his head hurt, he wanted to sob and rage and laugh all at the same time. 

In the end, he slipped his hand a little closer to her, then a little closer still, until she understood. She reached out and clasped it in her own again, and Mike felt himself relax a little when she began to softly run her thumb over his once more. 

"Fazbear Entertainment is trying to bribe me, so I don't sue them," Mike said softly, his eyes on their joined hands. 

"You have a strong case," Julianne responded, her own voice soft, "There's nothing wrong with settling if you'd rather, but if you'd like to know my opinion, I think you should sue." She paused, waited for a second. "Would you like me to find a good lawyer for you?" 

"Yeah, please," Mike answered. For a second he just watched, then sighed softly. "Thanks, mom."

"Thank _you,_ Mikey."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something I've wanted to do for awhile. Though Mike's experience in the hospital is canon, Julianne coming to see him is *not.* Still, I wanted to explore the what if - I've gotten a question here or there about her, and wanted to play with her a bit.
> 
> The long and short of it is: Julianne made a selfish, self-serving choice. Does it make her a poor mother? Yeah, probably. Does it mean she didn't care? No - she definitely did. I see the choice she makes as very human - she didn't do it right, and there were very big negative connotations with it, but I don't want to boil her down to just 'awful uncaring human', either. She was stuck in a difficult situation - leave alone and get away, or drag herself and the kids through an awful court process that William would almost certainly win. It was easiest not to try at all. Selfish too, certainly, but it was all very complicated. I don't condone her actions, but I'm not sure her story is all that uncommon, either.


	37. Bloodlust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an alternate world, Mike was not responsible for Jeremy's death. But he was still there - and the event left him a broken boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Blood, gore, murderous thoughts, the enjoyment of murder - all sorts of awful stuff. Please take care or avoid if that's not for you!
> 
> (Preemptive note: The views expressed in this chapter do not reflect my views, murder is real bad, etc etc.)

At the age of twelve years old, Michael Afton made himself a promise. It came after an evening sitting in Jeremy's room - where Mike clasped his hands over his little brother's ears and tried to distract the five year old from the sounds of their parents arguing. He wished, in that moment, that someone would cover  _ his  _ ears too - but there was no one for him. His mother might have, once, but he could recognize, even at twelve years old, the distance growing between them. 

Jeremy had Mike, though, and so in that moment Mike promised he'd always be there to cover Jeremy's ears. That thought blossomed and soon it was promises of protection and guardianship and all the things Mike had missed out on. The brothers fell asleep clutching each other, that night. Their mom was gone by the next morning. 

Mike held on to that promise over the next three years, despite the way his world crumbled around him. Their mother had vanished, their father was absent, and somehow Mike became the sole provider of emotional comfort for both Jeremy and Elizabeth as the little girl grew old enough to seek it out. In another life, the fifteen year old might have grown bitter - but in this one, he took his role seriously. It was tiring, to be sure, and he sometimes sought refuge - which was how he met them. 

Jackson, Adam, and Carrie - known troublemakers at Mike's school, and the closest he came to any real friends. Mike wasn't naive - he'd spent too long under his father's thumb for that - he knew that they barely tolerated him. But they  _ did  _ tolerate him, and tagging along with them provided Mike with just a little escape from home. 

They didn't like Jeremy, though - Mike learned quickly to keep them and his little brother far apart. It was true that Jeremy was sensitive - he got scared easily, cried easily, and had debilitating nightmares that landed him in Mike's bed more often than not. Still, Mike didn't think Jeremy deserved the teasing Mike's friends aimed his way. He tried to tell them off, but they hardly listened - so it was easiest to be sure they didn't end up around Jeremy at all. 

They were the only friends Mike had to invite to his birthday party, though. Besides, they'd never been to Fredbear's, and Mike had pride in the restaurant instilled in him from a young age. He wanted his friends there, he wanted to show them how cool the animatronics were, and he figured it'd be easy enough to keep them from Jeremy. The little boy didn't like the animatronics, after all, and would likely stick to their father like glue. 

Mike had gone to fetch the Foxy head his father had once made for him. More than a simple mask, it was a fully hollowed out head - it'd been Mike's favorite Halloween costume for two years running, now. He thought they'd appreciate it - thought maybe, just maybe, he'd pull some in some cred with them.

When Mike wandered back onto the main floor, the Foxy head clutched tight under an arm, he saw his friends gathered in a group by the main stage, where Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were putting on a show. They were laughing, the sounds raucous and mocking, and they had Jeremy held up in their hands. The little boy was screaming and crying and begging to be put down - terrified, because he hated being so close to the animatronics. 

"Hey!" Mike exclaimed, dropping the Foxy head in his sudden haste to get to the group. "Put him down, you guys! You're scaring him!" He lunged out to grab at Jackson, but before he could make contact, Adam had him by the arm. The considerably bigger boy shoved Mike down with ease, and Mike grunted as he smacked into the floor. 

"Don't worry Mikey, we just wanna see Jeremy give Fredbear here a biiiiig kiss," Carrie taunted, she and Adam now standing in front of Mike. When Mike tried to get to his feet again, Adam reached out with his foot and shoved Mike back down. Mike, meanwhile, felt panic gripping painfully at his heart. They weren't even supposed to be that close to the animatronics. 

Another cry of terror from Jeremy made something hot run in Mike's veins. With something not unlike a snarl, he shoved himself to his feet and pushed past Adam, adrenaline making it easier for him to shrug off the bigger boy's attempts to push him back down. By the time Mike got to the stage, Jeremy's head was already tucked securely in Fredbear's mouth. Jackson was holding him there, laughing as the child struggled and kicked and tried in vain to free himself. Furious, Mike slammed into Jackson, sending him stumbling away so violently he tripped off the stage entirely. 

"It's okay Jer, it's okay," Mike tried to sooth his brother. He reached up, grabbed under Jeremy's arms to pull him down. "I've got you, it's al-" 

There was a sudden crunch that vibrated through the air like a gunshot. Something burning hot all but exploded across Mike's face as someone let out a short, shrill scream. It vanished entirely, leaving only an awful gurgling sound in its place - that, and the sound of grinding gears as Fredbear's mouth tried in vain to reopen. 

Mike stared at the sight before him, his hands still tucked under Jeremy's now limp arms. Then, the boy was ripped away from Mike as Fredbear's body pivoted violently, taking Jeremy with him. Something was running in rivulets down Mike's front. Still, he stared - uncomprehending and uncertain. Something pounded in his ears, the world around him wooshed like a wind tunnel, and still Mike did not understand. 

What had happened to Jeremy? 

Then, suddenly, the roaring in his ears was punctuated by the sound of screaming. First a girl, and then a man, and then it seemed the whole patronage of Fredbear's was screaming together. Trembling, Mike walked closer to Fredbear and lifted his hands again. He still had to get Jeremy out of there - his little brother was so scared. He hated the animatronics. 

Someone pushed Mike aside and he stumbled away. William was there, hands flying as he worked to deactivate Fredbear. With a soft groan, the bear powered down, and William moved to free Jeremy's mangled body from the animatronic's jaws. Still, Mike watched. 

"Dad?" He asked, his voice sounding so far away, "what happened to Jeremy? What's wrong with him?"  _ Why's everyone still screaming?  _ William didn't answer Mike, only kept at what he was doing. Soon enough, he had Jeremy out of Fredbear and bundled securely in his arms. As he moved past Mike, the teenager reached out and snagged at his shirt. 

"Dad?" Mike asked, surprised to hear his voice break as he spoke. William paused and looked at him, then pulled away from him. 

"Go with Henry, Michael," William commanded as he continued his way off stage. "Henry!" He called, "come and deal with Michael!" 

Mike watched his father walk away, and he just stood there for a long second. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with Jeremy? Trembling, Mike wrapped his arms around himself. Why couldn't he understand? 

It was when Henry was suddenly there and bundling something warm and heavy tightly around Mike's body that everything flooded in all at once. Suddenly, Mike understood that the blood and gore covering his face and torso was  _ Jeremy's.  _ Suddenly, he understood what he had seen. He'd been about to pull Jeremy from Fredbear's mouth, when the animatronic's maw had suddenly snapped shut - crushing Jeremy's head within. William had pulled Jeremy's body from Fredbear, and all that'd been left in place of a head was shattered bones and gore and - 

Someone was screaming. It took a few heartbeats for Mike to realize it was him. It hurt - ripped through his throat and filled his head so full Mike thought it might burst. His body gave out on him - he would have fallen if not for Henry. Vaguely, through the fuzz and the screaming, Mike could hear the man talking. Comforting words were lost on him, though - Henry might as well have been talking from a mile away. 

The next twenty-four hours were a blur of confusion and horror, all of which came together in a single moment of clarity. Somehow, Mike found himself standing in a hospital, staring down at a bed and a body far too little for it. TV and the radio made it seem as if hospitals were always noisy, but this one was quiet and hushed. There was no beeping, no scrambled movements - there was no need for them, anymore. The body under the sheet was still and would never wake again. 

Mike didn't want to believe it was Jeremy, but William had not let him hold on to the fantasy. His father had peeled the sheet back, just enough to let Mike see the face - swollen and bruised and broken, but it was Jeremy. Mike had been sick immediately - and he'd nearly broken down again when he felt his father's hand light on his back. For a moment in time, Mike saw clearly - and then the blur came back, and life continued to pass. 

There was a funeral - the Aftons and the Emilys and a teacher who'd had Jeremy in class. Jeremy was cremated, not buried, and his ashes became a centerpiece on their fireplace at home. 

"When fall comes, we'll find a place to scatter them," William had promised when Mike had protested the showy placement. It'd been enough to soothe the boy's agitation. 

Yet more time passed. Mike was pulled from school, homeschooled instead - William was as harsh a teacher as Mike expected, but he didn't much mind it. Even under his father's cold tutelage, Mike much preferred it over the idea of returning to school. Above all, he couldn't imagine facing any of his three ex-friends again. 

The choice was taken from him, though, when they turned up one day. They came to the Afton household, all red eyes and apologies, with platters of food in their hands and watchful parents in a car behind them. William had been silent while Mike had stared at them. Mike looked at their hands, looked up to Jackson's face, and had felt something inside of him snap in a burst of fury. 

Mike had launched himself at the other boy and had taken him to the ground in a flurry of wordless shouts and punches. He hardly recognized the way Jackson didn't fight back, only tried to defend himself - Mike couldn't hear the shouts of alarm or the car doors slamming. He was lost in a blind rage, in the need to hurt, and every successful punch only fed the need rather than eased it. 

Then, someone had an arm latched tightly around his chest and he was ripped away from the other boy. Mike clawed and pushed at the arm holding him, desperate to get at Jackson again - despite the way the other boy was sobbing and trembling, falling as he tried to scoot back towards his terrified parents. 

"Enough, Michael, that's enough," William muttered into Mike's ear, and it was only then that Mike realized it was his father that had him. Panting, Mike gave up his fight and held on to the arm instead, even as his father pulled him back a bit further. 

"Fucking kid! Would someone call 9-1-1? Jesus christ!" One parent called, and Mike felt his father go still. 

"Oh, go ahead," William said, his voice practically a purr, "call the police, if you wish. I'd love to revisit the idea of pressing charges against your  _ brats." _ The words seemed to have the intended effect - rather than call anyone, the parents bundled their kids up and hurried them away. 

Jackson bled the whole way to his car. 

With them gone and out of sight, Mike felt his fury fade, leaving terror in its place. He wasn't so much afraid of being charged for assault, but he was afraid of his father and what William might say at Mike's loss of control. Or the way Mike had fought William's hold, at first. 

He did not expect William to set him in a chair and clean his hands with something approaching tenderness. Mike trembled slightly as he sat there, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When William finally looked into Mike's eyes, the boy found himself glued in place by the  _ pride  _ he saw there. 

"He deserved every punch," William said, his voice soft, "in fact, they deserve far more, every one of them. They deserve to pay for what they did - don't you think so, Michael?" 

And Mike had nodded. He  _ did  _ think so. More importantly,  _ William  _ thought so - and how could Mike disagree, when his father was looking at him like that? 

Once Mike's hands were clean, William straightened, reached out, cupped Mike's face in his hands, and turned it up so that they were looking at each other. They stayed like that for a long few heartbeats - William searching for something, and Mike waiting with bated breath for what his father might say next. 

"Then let's make sure they pay, Mikey."

* * *

Mike didn't have the stomach for it, at first. He'd been terrified to admit it, so afraid that it'd disappoint his father. William hadn't been bothered, though - he'd simply smiled, donned the Spring Bonnie costume, and had told Mike to wait and watch. And so he had. Carrie followed William so willingly, eager to see whatever Fazbear surprised he'd promised her. Mike had watched, wide eyed and unsure, as she walked into the room. 

Something had changed in her eyes when she saw him - some measure of fear had filled them, as if she only then realized that she made a mistake. The look had sent Mike's heart racing, and watching his father's handiwork after had not made Mike ill or regretful, like he'd feared. 

It'd made him feel alive - had clarified the world in a way he hadn't felt since he'd watched Fredbear kill Jeremy. Mike had helped his father stuff the body away in Chica - had been surprised how easily it fit. 

It was Mike who lured Adam back, a couple of months later. It'd been surprisingly easy to take on the role of regretful friend. 

"I'm sorry for what I did to Jackson," he'd said, the words slipping off his tongue with a hint of sorrow, "I was just so…so angry. But it wasn't an excuse. I can only imagine how awful you all felt, too." He'd paused, gestured at the hall, "dad keeps the really good pizza and stuff in the back. Come have a slice, let me make it up to you."

Whether out of desperation for Mike's forgiveness, or else just drawn to the idea of delicious pizza, Mike wasn't sure. But Adam had followed him, all the same, right into William's waiting knife. 

It was Mike who wielded the knife next. He'd all but begged for the chance, not that it'd taken much convincing. William had shown him what to do, time and time again - how to wield the weapon so that the victim would have no time to scream. 

How to make them bleed the most. 

Carrie had been thrilling, and Adam had been invigorating. Jackson, though - he was something special. There was something almost intimate about watching the life bleed from his eyes, the end brought on by Mike's own hand. Mike was panting by the end, and the blood on his body felt like a cleanse - the opposite of the gore that'd encased him when Jeremy had died. Mike felt himself beaming from ear to ear, stretching his cheeks so wide they hurt. 

When William embraced him, Mike broke down into joyful, hysterical sobs. 

Mike balked only a little the first time his father asked him to help with a more innocent victim. After the deed was done, though, and Mike felt that same electric ecstasy, he never again met his father's requests with anything but sheer enthusiasm. 


	38. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ness starts a project, and it becomes a whole ordeal.

Mike leaned against the doorway of their home and watched Ness with a curious eye. The nine year old was sitting on the grass of their front yard, her tongue sticking slightly out of the corner of her mouth as her hands worked. She was weaving dandelions together - or, at least, she was trying her damndest to. What she'd worked on already was almost crown shaped, but the flowers were giving her trouble - every now and then she'd make a small noise of frustration as another flower unraveled. 

After a minute or two of watching, Mike went over and sat down on the ground in front of Ness. He smiled when she paused and looked up at him. 

"Flower crown, huh? Want some help with that, kiddo?" 

"You can make flower crowns?" Ness asked in response, eyes growing a bit wider. Mike laughed softly as he shrugged. 

"Well, I can't promise to be any good at it, but maybe it'll be easier if we both work on it. What do you say?" 

"Okay!" 

With her permission, Mike reached out to help. Two sets of hands ended up complicating things, but Ness seemed happy enough to pass the work off to him, choosing instead to climb into his lap in order to tell him exactly how she wanted the flowers. Making the crown ended up somewhat more difficult than Mike expected - weaving the flowers together in a way that made them stay was no easy task. Still, in the end they had a decently intact crown of flowers - and the way Ness beamed when he laid it on her head made the task worth it. 

Mike leaned back on his hands and watched as his daughter all but danced around the yard, singing off-key and made-up songs about her new crown of flowers. Soon enough she tired of showing them off only for him, and insisted that they go and show her new crown to the animatronics - not that Mike had needed much convincing. 

Ness impatiently waited for the evening, but she knew as well as Mike did that the animatronics wouldn't be able to say much until after the Arcade closed for the day. When finally they made their way there, Ness skipped into the restaurant ahead of Mike, and immediately ran around - waking the animatronics in order to show off her flowers. 

"Wow, did you make this yourself, Ness?" Spring Bonnie asked, crouching down to get a closer look. Ness smiled and reached up to touch the crown. 

"Some of it! Daddy helped a lot too, though. It was kinda hard!" 

"Well, it's real pretty," Spring Bonnie said, before pausing for a heartbeat. One of his ears twitched as he tilted his head a bit to the side. "Think you could make one for me?" 

"Oh, that's such a good idea!" Chica said almost immediately, clapping her hands together. "I want one too!" With her enthusiasm, the others were soon clamoring for their own crowns as well. Even Freddy admitted he'd like one, if the humans were so inclined. Which, of course, they were - Ness was excited at the task, and how could Mike ever say no to any of them? 

And so, the very next day, Mike and Ness bought up a bunch of different flowers from a nearby nursery, took them to the Arcade, and spent the day making them into crowns. Ness worked on them constantly - tucked securely in the back office with her gathering of flowers. Mike helped on and off throughout the day - though by the last crown, Ness had gained something of a mastery at flower weaving. When night fell once more, she had a whole bundle of crowns to show for her effort. Not five minutes later, every animatronic had one on their head. 

Ness had been attracted to the yellow tulips for their color - but when the woman at the nursery had told them that one meaning for the tulips was 'sunshine in your smile,' Ness had decided that the bright yellow flowers were the perfect fit for all of the animatronics. Seeing the flowers on the animatronics now - and the group's resulting good cheer - Mike had to agree. 

Shortly after the animatronics were all dressed in their crowns, Mike saw them exchange a look. At the look, Chica vanished from the room for a few minutes. When she came back, her hands were tucked firmly behind her back. 

"Ness, Mike," Chica said. Once she had Ness's attention too, she continued. "We saw how hard you both worked on these flower crowns - and they're ever so lovely! We wanted to give you both something in return. We didn't have any flowers of our own, but we hope you like them anyway." She pulled her hands out, and dangling on her fingers were two vaguely crown-shaped items. Someone - Chica mostly, Mike had to assume - had taken various colors of streamers and woven them together into their own versions of crowns. 

Immediately, Ness's eyes went wide as she let out an excited gasp. She hurried over to Chica, who immediately crouched down to as close to eye level as she could get. Carefully, the chicken laid one of the crowns over Ness's head. It was a tad too big and slipped a little until it was sitting cockeyed, partially covering one of Ness's eyes, but the girl beamed wide all the same. 

"It's so pretty! I'm never gonna take it off! Thanks, Chica! Daddy, look!" Ness reached up to hold the crown securely as she spun and sprinted over to Mike. "Lookit my crown! It's even better than the flowers!" 

"It looks great," Mike agreed. He reached out and straightened the crown, laying it more evenly on her head. He blinked, then laughed, when Ness almost immediately reached up and made it crooked again. Then, she took off to show it to the others - and thank them for the gift as well. Mike watched, and only jumped a little when he suddenly felt something being laid on top of his own head. Reaching up to touch his own streamer crown, Mike turned to look up at Chica. 

"We made one for you too," she reminded him, eyes shifting slightly in her version of a smile. "Tonight, no one should be without a crown. Freddy told me to make sure there was extra blue in this one - to match your eyes." 

Mike felt something warm clutch at his chest, and he turned his head down a bit as he looked away. He looked out towards the room, where Ness was currently chattering away, bundled securely in Foxy's arms. Mike felt Chica lay a hand on his shoulder, and with a genuine smile, Mike reached up and laid his hand atop hers. 

"Thanks, Chica," He said, and she pulled him into a warm hug in response. 


	39. Thunderstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike loves the sound of a good Thunderstorm - but his siblings aren't so fond.

The soft sounds of distant thunder and tinkering rain drifted into fourteen year old Michael Afton's brain as he slept. The noises made him curl a little tighter, and drift a little deeper, lulled by the sound of the thunderstorm. He might have fallen into an even deeper sleep, if not for the sudden yank of his hair - the sharp pain making his eyes fly open as he gasped in sudden wakefulness. 

The little girl standing in front of him quickly pulled her hand back. Wide green eyes, wet with unshed tears, watched him wearily. Wondering, Mike thought, if he'd respond to her pulling in anger. The urge to do so faded almost immediately in the face of her obvious fear. 

He wondered if she'd already been turned away by their father, or if she'd simply come straight to Mike. 

"What is it, Lizzy? You alright?" He asked softly. Immediately, she shook her head, then began to heft herself up onto his bed - a difficult task for the three year old. He reached over to help, and before long she was all but curled up against him. 

"'m scared," Elizabeth said softly, clutching tight on to Mike's pajama shirt. With a soft sigh, Mike rested his hand on the top of her head and ruffled her hair softly. 

"Of the thunder?" He asked, "there's nothing to be scared of - it can't hurt you."

"'s loud, though. Can I stay?" 

"Yeah, of course," Mike said, resigning himself to his lost sleep. Without any more words, they both laid down, and Mike tucked the blanket up around his sister. He settled into his spot, but knew quickly that he wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. Elizabeth would cringe, sometimes even cry, every time there was a new lightning strike or rumble of thunder. In the quieter moments in between, she rolled back and forth, clearly very awake. After some twenty minutes of it, Mike gave up. 

"Lizzy, you want me to read you a story?" Mike asked, maneuvering around her in order to climb off the bed. She sat up and looked at him with wide eyes, then nodded. Assuming it'd be her answer, Mike was already moving for his little bookshelf. It had a few kid books on it - some leftovers from when he was younger, others left from his siblings during previous late-night reading adventures. Mike grabbed one he knew Elizabeth loved - 'Goodnight Moon' - snatched up his little flashlight, and then returned to the bed. Once there, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it up and over their heads, until they were inside a little makeshift blanket tent. 

As Elizabeth got comfortable cuddled against Mike's side with her thumb in her mouth, the teen flicked his flashlight on, set the book on his lap, and opened it. 

"Ready?" He asked, and at Elizabeth's nod, he began to quietly read. "In the great green room -" 

"Mikey?" Another voice, small and nervous, interrupted from outside their tent. Mike pulled the blanket up just enough to see Jeremy standing at the side of his bed. The seven year old had his treasured Fredbear plush clutched tight, and even in the poor light of the flashlight, Mike could see his younger brother was trembling slightly. "Can - can I come in, too?" Jeremy continued. For a second, Mike eyed his younger brother. Then, with a faux-suffering sigh, Mike held the blanket up a little more and scooted over a bit. 

"Yeah alright, come on in, brat," Mike said, no real heat in the word. Immediately, Jeremy crawled into the bed and inside the blanket tent. Without prompting, Elizabeth moved over to Mike's other side, leaving room for Jeremy. Mike let the blanket fall and sat there while both of his siblings got comfortable - ending with a warm body snuggled in to both of Mike's sides. He took the flashlight and tucked it into the crook of his neck, and returned his attention to the book. He read it in full twice, and by the time he drifted off halfway through his third read, the other two were already deep asleep. 

Come morning, they would wake in a warm pile of limbs and bodies - but for the moment, despite the raging thunderstorm outside, they slept, and all was well in the Afton household. 


	40. Bunnies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike re-introduces Toy Bonnie to his animatronics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a direct continuation of the 'Salvage' chapter, in which Mike finds TB outside of his house. Noncanon what-if.

The drop of a pin could have been heard in the echoing silence. It was, quite possibly, the quietest Mike had ever heard the Arcade. Each and every one of them seemed to be holding their breath - himself included. He was standing in the main room, staring at his animatronic troop who, in turn, were staring at the animatronic currently sitting half-slumped behind Mike. The wayward Toy Bonnie - who'd shown up  _ next to Mike's house,  _ broken and sparking, had not seen a lot of improvement since. Mike had done his best - he'd cleaned gunk and water from the rabbit's internals, and had been heartened that Toy Bonnie could at least sort of walk by himself now. The unfortunate truth, though, was Mike's hard hitting tools were at the Arcade and many of them were too big to cart around comfortably.

Besides, he'd told himself, Toy Bonnie couldn't live in his house forever. Once he  _ was  _ fixed up, he'd be far more at home at the Arcade. Sure, room was getting tight, but Mike felt certain he could find space for just one more animatronic. So why not cut out the extra work and heft Toy Bonnie to the Arcade to be fixed? 

Of course, that'd come with a bit of a hurdle to get over, first. After all, most of Mike's animatronics had known Toy Bonnie first hand, and none of them had any love lost for the blue rabbit. That he'd not only threatened a child, but had also been responsible for Mike's head injury, only made them more bitter. Mike had known it'd be a hard sell - he hadn't expected the way he'd felt the need to literally step between the animatronics, though. 

"He needs help," Mike said, catching their attention. Almost as a unit, each of them looked at him - except Bonnie, who was still staring at Toy Bonnie. "He's broken, and scared. He's not a threat anymore you guys, believe me."

"He be trickin' ye, lad," Foxy said, shaking his head, "just like he did before, aye? Lettin' ye draw close so he can strike when yer most vulnerable."

"He doesn't understand things like companionship, Mike," Freddy added, ever calm, "let alone friendship or love. The whole batch was dangerous - you saw that first hand. Best to set him loose - preferably far away from here."

"He was afraid of me," Mike told them, gesturing back at the rabbit, "of what I might do, when I found him. He was afraid of the rain. If he can't feel emotions like you guys, how could he feel fear?" 

"It's just too risky, don't you think?" Chica asked. She was squeezing her hands fretfully, eyes darting between Mike and Toy Bonnie. "What if you're wrong, Mike? What if he - I dunno - what if he waits for you to fix him then goes after you? For that lot, he was always kind of…clever." 

"He's already had his chance," Mike said, "plenty of them, actually, before I brought him here. He hasn't so much as touched me. I think - I think something's changed. Maybe he's been aware long enough that he's more alive now. I don't know. But I'm telling you, he's not dangerous. Okay," Mike lifted a hand to cut off Freddy, who'd immediately made to argue, "No more dangerous than the rest of you, then." 

They fell silent, then. Spring Bonnie was watching the group, ears perked as they argued amongst themselves. Mike knew the golden rabbit would go with whatever they all decided - he was the only one, after all, with no direct experience with Toy Bonnie. Mike gave him a quick and grateful smile, then looked to Bonnie again. The purple rabbit was still staring at Toy Bonnie, and the look on his static face was unreadable. Mike stared, willing Bonnie to look at him so they could talk it over, but Bonnie only had eyes for the toy. 

Interestingly, Toy Bonnie was staring right back with his remaining eye. 

A sudden screeching came from Toy Bonnie, and Mike clapped his hands over his ears as it echoed in the room. The animatronics reacted similarly, grimacing and trying to cover their sensitive audio receptors. The screech cut off abruptly, becoming some of a snarl as Toy Bonnie smacked at his own throat. Mike turned slightly to look at the broken rabbit, who reached up to tug at his ears in a show of obvious frustration. Mike felt bad all over again. 

The human yelped when he felt himself suddenly lifted. He looked around, and saw that it was Bonnie picking him up and bodily moving him out of the way. Almost immediately upon being set back on the ground, Mike felt Freddy put his hands on his shoulders and grip - the hold gentle, but firm. 

"Wait, Bonnie!" Mike said, feeling alarm grip his chest, "Bonnie, leave him be - please, he doesn't mean any harm any more!" He bit at his lip at a look from the purple rabbit - it was quick, and Mike still couldn't read it. Feeling inexplicably chastised, Mike watched as Bonnie approached his toy counterpart. 

Mike could feel everyone's surprise when Bonnie crouched down in front of the other animatronic. 

"You are ugly as sin," Bonnie said blandly, as Toy Bonnie blinked his good eye owlishly. "Always have been. Honestly, all of this? It's an improvement. And I gotta tell you, it feels real damn good to see you knocked down a peg. You were always way too big for your britches." One of Toy Bonnie's ears twitched, and Bonnie's lifted slightly in response. "Still got that ego floating around in there, huh?" Bonnie asked. They were all quiet for a long heartbeat, and then Bonnie held his hand out towards Toy Bonnie. 

"Come on then, up you get," Bonnie said. Toy Bonnie waited, then slowly lifted his remaining hand and laid it on top of Bonnie's. They stayed there for a second, and then Bonnie stood, practically pulling Toy Bonnie up with him. "You ever so much as look at Mike wrong, and I'll gut you myself," Bonnie warned once they were standing. Toy Bonnie immediately nodded. 

"I-I wo-o-o-n't!" He agreed, "b-b-bunny's pr-r-r-r-omise!" 

"Then you have nothing to be afraid of, here. You're in good hands," Bonnie said. He turned slightly to look at the others. "Mike's got a good instinct for this thing, right?" His eyes landed on Mike, who for his part was still shocked at the scene that'd played out in front of him. 

The others exchanged glances of their own, and then began to voice their own acceptance of the situation. With a clap on the back, Freddy even apologized for doubting Mike. 

"Someone's gotta keep me in line," Mike answered with a lopsided grin the bear did his best to mirror. When Mike made his way back over to Toy Bonnie, he felt Bonnie lay a hand on top of his head. Pausing, Mike looked up at the purple rabbit. They looked at each other for a second, and then Mike smiled. 

"Thanks, Bonnie."

"I meant what I said, you know. I'll rip  _ his  _ face clean off. Use his endoskeleton as a backscratcher."

"I know you will."

"You're sure about this, Mike?" 

"I'm sure," Mike said, nodding, "I - well. I trust him. Crazy as it sounds."

"And I trust you. So I guess we better start figuring out what kind of show this guy's gonna get. You know as soon as he's fixed up he's going to be demanding stage time."

"D-d-damn straieeeEEEE-" Toy Bonnie attempted to chime in, and while Mike and the others flinched, Bonnie turned to him. The purple rabbit reached out and flicked a finger against Toy Bonnie's throat, helping the screeching to stop. 

"Rule number one," Bonnie said once Toy Bonnie had gone quiet again. The purple rabbit held up a finger and waved it in the other's face, "This is a family friendly restaurant. That means no swearing!" 

With that, somehow, Mike knew Toy Bonnie was going to be just fine. 


	41. Adoption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth was always alone. It was the first thing Circus Baby learned about the little girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy plot holes batman - let's just agree to ignore them and enjoy a little out of universe fluff ;)

The little girl was alone. She was _always_ alone. It was the first thing Circus Baby learned about Elizabeth, and it was the thing that weighed most heavily on the animatronic's newly formed empathy. The little girl was not supposed to speak with Baby, but she did anyway - and who could blame her? By Elizabeth's own admission, there was no one else to talk to. It was Baby, or the ghosts of the brothers she had lost and the mother she had never known. Her father - Circus Baby's own creator - had no patience for Elizabeth's stories or her worries or her tears. 

Circus Baby, on the other hand, never grew tired of the stories. Never begrudged the child her tears. The animatronic would listen to the little girl forever, if only to be sure eventually she would smile again. The world seemed so much brighter when Elizabeth smiled. It was a crime that it happened so little - Elizabeth had a bubbly personality, but it was hidden beneath grief too heavy for a seven year old. 

Circus Baby wasn’t supposed to talk to Elizabeth - it wasn’t exactly a rule anyone had _told_ her, as no one knew she could talk at will, but it was just something she knew. Elizabeth wasn’t supposed to be near Baby at all, actually, and that one _was_ a rule. So it only reasoned that speaking to the little girl would be disastrous as well. Still, it was difficult, especially when the little girl cried. Circus Baby wanted so badly to comfort the crying child. After all, it wasn’t as if anyone else would be doing so. 

One morning, when Elizabeth was a little older, pushing double digits, she stood in front of Baby and cried so hard her whole body shook with it. Circus Baby couldn’t understand what was wrong, Elizabeth could barely squish the words out among her sobs. The only thing Baby could see was that Elizabeth’s favored plush toy - an old, ratty golden teddy bear - was nothing but a flat piece of ripped apart fabric that Elizabeth cradled reverently. Something, Baby assumed, had destroyed the girl’s possession.

Something, Circus Baby corrected herself darkly, or some _one._

When Elizabeth fell to the ground in a heap of despair, Circus Baby couldn’t help it any longer. With a soft shushing, she stepped forward. The first clunk of her feet caught Elizabeth’s attention, and the girl froze in place. She looked up at Baby, who approached slowly, carefully. Baby crouched down, reached out for the frozen child, and bundled her up into her arms. For a long few heartbeats, Elizabeth sat dead still, her breath so short it was obvious she was trying not to breathe at all. Baby could hear the little girl’s rapid heartbeat, could even feel it against her metal shell. 

“It’s alright, Elizabeth,” Circus Baby said softly, “it will be okay. One way or another, this too shall pass.” 

Then, something incredible happened. With another sob, Elizabeth all at once went limp, except for her arms. Those, she wrapped as far around Circus Baby as she could. She clutched onto the animatronic, who felt her own metal heart warm at the embrace. Circus Baby decided, in that moment, that she would do everything in her power to protect Elizabeth.

To ensure that the little girl was never alone again. 

It became their little secret. Whenever Elizabeth’s father was out of the house, the little girl would come and see Circus Baby. That was not unusual - but now, the animatronic could talk back. She could share in Elizabeth’s joy, and do her best to chase away the little girl’s sorrow. Under her attention, Elizabeth brightened - her smile returned, her bubbliness blossomed. The little girl inside of her thrived, even as she aged. 

Then, suddenly, things changed again. The house grew quieter - Elizabeth was still there, but something was _wrong._ It was a few days before Elizabeth admitted, her voice breaking, that her father hadn’t come home. He hadn’t said anything about leaving for good, hadn’t reached out to her in any way, he’d simply left and never come back. At first, Circus Baby had reassured her ward that William would certainly return. When time continued to pass without any sign of the man, however, even Baby had to admit it seemed unlikely. The last biological connection Elizabeth had, had vanished. Even with Circus Baby there, it was obvious his disappearance weighed heavily on Elizabeth. Especially when, she said, the rule had _always_ been no cops. No matter what. Elizabeth thought about it over and over for a long time, but eventually she settled on abiding the rule. 

“Even if they do find him, he’d only be angry,” Elizabeth said, every tense line of her face distressed, “I can’t. I can’t tell anyone he’s missing.”

In that same moment, with a shuddering breath that cut Baby to her own core, Elizabeth threw herself at the animatronic. The eleven year old wrapped her arms around Baby as far as they would go, and sobbed against her shell. Carefully, slowly, Baby lowered her arms and wrapped them around the girl in return. At the gentle contact, Elizabeth snuggled in closer. 

"Please don't leave me," Elizabeth whimpered, once the tears had subsided just enough to allow her breath enough to speak. Baby tightened her hold, just a bit, always weary of hurting the girl with her strength. 

"I won't," Circus Baby promised, and she knew in that moment she'd never meant anything so sincerely as this, "I promise. I'll always be here."

And so she was. It wasn't easy - she was not a human parent, and that created difficulties that, in the moment, seemed insurmountable. She was sure, time and time again, that she would fail in her promise - that Elizabeth would perish under her care, despite Circus Baby's best efforts. And, sometimes, even the robot felt her patience tested. Children, after all, sometimes had big tantrums. And eleven years old or not, Elizabeth had more reason for them than any. 

To the world, the little girl vanished. Those who made up her immediate family were gone - and there was no one else to know of her existence. Or, if they did, they didn't think to come and look for her. As far as anyone believed, Elizabeth Afton vanished as surely as her father. That, of course, brought an entire host of fresh issues with it - schooling, especially, was a struggle. 

And yet. And _yet._ Somehow they made it through. They moved on, together. And perhaps neither of them existed to the world but they had each other and at the end of even the most difficult of days, that was all that mattered.

* * *

When Circus Baby heard the crash of a breaking window, they were resting. Baby was leaned back against the wall, allowing her awareness to drift, just a little - the closest she could get to sleeping. Elizabeth, however, was fast asleep. The lanky eighteen year old was curled up tight on a collection of pillows and blankets piled in a nest on Baby's lap. The young woman hardly fit any longer, and Baby always worried about Elizabeth's back and neck. But it kept her comfortable, and it kept her happy, and if Circus Baby were honest with herself, it kept her happy to. 

Baby looked down to be sure Elizabeth hadn't stirred - not surprised that the deep sleeper hadn't - and then carefully got to her feet. She cradled Elizabeth and her nest carefully in her arms until she could lay them gently upon the ground. Watching the girl for a second longer, Baby turned and walked away, turning all of her attention to what could have possibly caused the noise. 

It was as she feared - someone had broken into their home. Rural and overrun, the old Afton house hadn't been bothered by anyone in years. Now, however, a window was scattered in glass shards on the ground, and someone was snooping through their home. 

Circus Baby could not allow that. 

Carefully, she tracked the interloper. She caught up with him in the kitchen, where he stood, staring at the contents. Baby could see why - despite the house's exterior, the interior was well kept and as well stocked as she and Elizabeth could manage. The surprise of the sight worked in the animatronics favor, and she reached out and grabbed the man by the back scruff of his shirt. He yelped, and Baby tossed him roughly to the ground in an effort to cut the sound short. It worked, and he landed with an _oomph_ hard on his back. He stared up at Baby in appropriate horror as she stepped closer. She allowed her eyelids to fall half closed, and felt her face plates shift into a glare as they stared at each other. 

" _You,"_ Baby hissed, all at once realizing why the man in front of her looked so familiar. It was, she could admit, confusing - he looked younger, far less worn than the creator of her memories. But they otherwise looked exactly alike - how could he be anyone else? "How dare you come back here?" Baby continued, taking another step forward as the man scrambled backwards. 

"W-wait, hold on," He babbled, lifting a hand as if that could stop her, "I don't - who are you? I don't know who you are. I don't - hang on!" 

"I won't let you hurt her again," Baby said, the sound all but hissing from her. She didn't know what had brought her creator back after so very long, but she wouldn't give him the chance to get Elizabeth's hopes up again. 

Or crush them. 

Baby would have killed the man then and there - she lunged for him, knew she would catch him before he could even get to his feet. But when Elizabeth was suddenly there, when she thrust herself between them, Baby stopped so quickly she felt her balance topple. For a half second, she was terrified she would fall forward and flatten her charge - but she managed to balance, hands stretched out in clear threat. 

"Stop, Baby," Elizabeth said, lowering her outstretched arms once she knew Baby had seen her. "It's not…this isn't father."

It wasn't? 

Elizabeth took a breath and turned, her eyes going to the terrified man still on the ground. His eyes found hers, and they stared at each other for a few heartbeats. Then, Elizabeth held out her hand - Baby could see the trembling stretching all the way up the young woman's arm. Equally as shaky, the man reached up and took it. Elizabeth helped him to his feet and, in a smooth continuation of the movement, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. 

"Lizzy," the man breathed, something catching in his voice, "you're alive. You're _alive._ "

"Michael," Elizabeth answered, her own voice a broken whine. Promptly, she burst into tears, and the man tightened his hold on her as tears began to streak down his own face. 

A brother, Baby realized. She'd heard of both Michael and Jeremy time and time again, though she'd never met either of them for herself. This one was the spitting image of Baby's creator - if not for his tears and the desperate hold be kept on his sister. 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't know - I'm so sorry, Lizzy. I'm sorry." It was a mantra from the man's mouth, and Baby stepped back, going still as the humans shared in their moment together. It lasted a long while, muttered mantras going to silence and then, finally, to soft spoken conversation. It was more apologies from Michael and soft acceptance from Elizabeth and long explanations and stories that went deep into the night. Baby hadn't known two humans could even talk so much, and certainly not while standing in one place the whole time. But they did. And when their conversation drifted back into quiet, they finally looked to Baby. 

"Michael, this is Circus Baby," Elizabeth explained. She walked over to the animatronic and stood beside her. They exchanged a look and, with a smile, Baby laid her head gently on top of Elizabeth's head. "She's my best friend," Elizabeth continued, "and she's watched over me for years."

"I'm glad you had someone. Circus Baby…thank you. Thank you for watching over her," Michael said. Baby felt her smile shift to something more negative when she looked at him. 

"Someone had to," Baby told him, and she felt a smug satisfaction when he flinched, "seeing as her family could not be bothered to do so."

"Baby, please," Elizabeth said, lying her hand on Baby's arm. 

"I will not allow you to swoop in here and take her from me," Baby continued, not heeding the girl's request, "not when I have been her sole comfort all of this time."

"Baby -" 

"It's alright," Michael cut in, "I hear you, and I understand. I really do. I'm not here to take her from you - I don't believe for a second she'd leave you, anyway."

"Of course not," Elizabeth agreed, squeezing Baby's arm softly. 

"Now that I know you're here, I…I'm not going anywhere, so long as you want me in your life," Michael added, "but I'm not here to shake up your lives, either."

"I meant what I said before, no matter who you are," Baby told him, "I will not let you hurt her. Elizabeth." She looked to the girl, who looked back up at her seriously. "His presence in your life is your decision and I will not step between you." Baby looked to Michael again, letting the glare shift back into her face. "But if she allows you in and you leave her again, I will hunt you down myself. Do you understand? If you hurt her, I will hurt you. I will not hesitate." When a slight smile tilted Michael's lips, Baby took an angry step towards him, satisfied when the smile immediately fell. "I am not joking. I am not bluffing."

"I know," Michael said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. I believe you, one-hundred percent. Because you remind me of…well. Some other folks I know would not hesitate to kill to protect their human. I hear you, Baby. I do. And I promise you, I have no intention on leaving Liz again. Unless she asks me to, or something happens to me I can't help. You have my word on that. Liz?" He looked at her, and the serious look on his face softened. "I promise."

"Okay," Elizabeth responded, her hold tightening on Baby's arm. Unbelieving, Baby knew. Untrusting. Uncertain and afraid. Pointedly, Baby wrapped her hand protectively around Elizabeth's shoulder. She looked at Michael, fully expecting to find him angry or hurt. 

She was surprised to find him smiling gently, instead. His eyes found Baby's and he gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. Circus Baby had plenty of misgivings of her own. She knew she would be suspicious of this strange, human man long after Elizabeth had let her own distrust fade. Despite that, in that small moment, Baby thought perhaps he understood better than she gave him credit for. 

Circus Baby did not trust Michael with Elizabeth's heart. She would, however, at least give him the chance to prove her wrong.


End file.
